


Second Star

by AutumnBlueWylde



Series: The Crossover Chronicles [2]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Crossover, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-27
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-07-22 20:22:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 27,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19993948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AutumnBlueWylde/pseuds/AutumnBlueWylde
Summary: As Cobra and Lucy begin to understand how they might feel, Lucy is taken once again to another world.





	1. Before

Lucy couldn't tell you what was going on between them. She didn't know. They didn't talk about it. They didn't name it. He'd show up, they'd talk, they'd argue, they'd make out. It probably wasn't at all healthy but she didn't care. Cobra made her happy. Mostly.

For a week after their first kiss, Lucy was giddy, distracted. She hadn't been much use to her team. But it had definitely filled her with confidence. She convinced Erza that taking a job with a bit more physical challenge was a good idea. Thankfully, whatever spell she'd been under had dissapated when it came to taking down thieves that were stealing magical artefacts in museums across Fiore. She'd never forget the look of pride on her teams faces when she took down the ring leader. She was exhillerated. Buzzing with energy and happier than she'd been in a long time.

When they got home again, she found her hype dying down, slowly. She thought about Cobra, what he might be doing, where they all were. If he was thinking about her? She pushed it down. _It was one kiss._

But that didn't mean that what she had felt was any less real. He drifted through her dreams more than once. She'd fallen asleep on him once and she missed it. She caught the scent of cloves and she would find herself breathing deeper, making it last. Lucy pushed it down. She couldn't afford to pine. Especially for someone she still didn't even know. Not really.

Okay, she knew he tasted like cigarettes and menthol. And his hair, despite how it looked, was so soft it made her wonder what conditioner he used. She knew his skin was the texture of silk and the colour of a caramel latte. And that under all the layers he wore, he was lean but toned. She knew he was damaged. But so was Lucy. Maybe not in the same way, but still.

After that first time, outside the guild hall, Crime Sorciere had come back a few times. The first time, Lucy and Cobra had barely looked at each other. At least until the day Crime Sorciere were leaving again. He collared her in the alleyway, the sun had gone down, so it was dark. And he purposely backed into the shadows when he heard her saying goodbye to Cana. Lucy had jumped when his hand snaked around her waist. He wasted no time, his mouth was on hers before she could really register what was happening. Her lips were tensed, her body rigid, but the second she realised it was him, she relaxed. Her fingers sifted through his hair as he nipped her lip.

"Wait." Lucy breathed, holding him at arms length. Which was hard since his hands were still around her small waist, his thumbs brushing the bottom of her ribs.

He looked at her.

"I don't wa-" She started, but he kissed her again.

He knew what she was going to say. She wasn't the kind of girl who was into casual anything. she took all of her relationships seriously. She wanted to spend time with him. To find out what his favourite movie was, stupid crap like that.

And if he was completely honest with himself, he wanted that too.

But right now, he wanted to swim through the colours of her soul. To listen to the songs it created when he kissed her.

"I'm leaving- again- tonight." He said to her, each word on a breath between kisses. Lucy pulled away again. Her eyes filled with longing and sadness. But also understanding.  
Before he left, he held her hand, and told her "5th Element, that's my favourite film." Then slipped away into the night.

-

The next time they came, Cobra's face was like thunder. The whole of Crime Sorciere looked like someone had pissed in their cereal. Lucy had never seen Angel so livid. Midnight's face looked unchanged but a fire burned behind his eyes that threatend to engulf anyone who dared try him.

Lucy waited a bit, they got drinks. Jellal headed up to Makorov's office, Angel and Midnight left. So did Hoteye and Racer. But Cobra stayed at the bar. Knocking back drink after drink. Lucy was concerned. His mood didn't seem to be getting any better. So she went to him.

His shoulders tensed as she approached. But she carried on.

"Don't." He said as she went to sit next to him. But she still sat. Cobra sighed, heavily, and stood to leave.

Lucy caught his wrist. "Co-"

"Let go." He said, low enough for only her to hear.

"What the hell? What's wrong?" Lucy asked, not letting go.

Cobra turned on her, leaning to talk right into her face. Her mouth set into a hard line, her eyes meeting his, she would not flinch.

"What's wrong? You. Right now. I say 'don't' when you go to sit next to me, and you ignore me. I ask you to let go, and you don't." He smiled, it was not friendly, "Holy shit, we make out like, twice? And you think you have some kind of right to just interfere?"

He heard the hurt, in her mind. It stained her soul, darkening the tie-dye carnival she usually had going on. But he didn't stop.

"You want to help? Fucking listen then." He pointed to his own ear before baring his teeth at her. He slammed the guild hall door behind him as he left. Everyone jumped except Lucy.

-

Banging on Lucy's door woke her at around midnight. She was still in a foul mood from her encounter with Cobra, and this absolutely did not help. Honestly, she might kill Natsu one day. Or just remove the locks from her door and windows. Waking up to his stupid face in the morning had to be better than this every other night.

"Natsu I swear to - " She opened the door. "Oh." She closed it again. Or tried before a caramel hand stopped it. She didn't resist, angry as she was, she wanted an explanation. She let him in.

Standing with her arms crossed, she waited.

And he told her. How they'd come back from a job where they couldn't save everyone. A new dark guild were trying to get their name known. Local townspeople were desperate. No one answered their fliers begging guilds for help. They had formed a mob. Crime Sorciere arrived shortly after the carnage.

"There were _teenagers_ in that mess." He growled.

He was frustrated. He'd never had a problem with people dying around him before.

Lucy's stance shifted, uncrossing her arms to guide him to her sofa. "You've changed. You're trying to be better people." She offered. "And it's always horrendous when children die. Nevermind like that." She didn't want to know exactly what happened, but she couldn't imagine it was pretty. If it had Cobra messed up, she didn't _need_ to know.

They talked until morning, about anything and everything. Lucy found out his favourite colour was green. He guessed hers was pink and she screwed her nose up at how he had an unfair advantage.

"Your whole apartment is pink!" He laughed. And she giggled too.

They watched a film when Lucy started yawning. And they stayed on her sofa. Until Lucy fell asleep, her head on the back of the sofa, her legs over his. Cobra put her in bed, and quietly let himself out again.

Lucy woke to a note saying they were leaving again, and she couldn't help feeling a little lost. But she knew she'd see him soon. At least she hoped she would.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

She hadn't spoken to anyone about what was going on. She wouldn't know where to start. She had a feeling Natsu knew. Because he's smarter than she gives him credit for. Smarter still for keeping his mouth shut. But Erza and Gray? She didn't think they had a clue. And she wasn't going to bring it up. She focused on their jobs, and if they weren't working, she was shopping or writing. Anything to take her mind off the fact that she had no idea when she would even see him again.

She knew Cobra had spoken to Midnight. Although she was convinced he hadn't really revealed all that much. Just enough to shut his friend up.

Crime Sorciere had a habit of turning up when they all least expected it. Sometimes they'd drop by every week for a day, then nothing for two months. It drove Lucy insane, but he managed to sneak her away for food or a film without anyone noticing.

It was excting, the prospect of getting caught, even though they weren't even doing anything wrong. But if she were honest, Lucy couldn't be bothered with the grilling she'd get from her friends.

One Sunday afternoon, after not hearing from any of Crime Sorciere in about 6 weeks, they dropped by.

A subtle nod from Cobra had Lucy excusing herself from her team's table.

"I'm gona go work on my novel before we have to leave again. See you all later!" She chirped.

She could hear them talking as she walked towards the door.

"-think she's still on bad terms with Cobra." Juvia said.

"She does seem to disappear as soon as they turn up. " Erza added.

Lucy smiled slyly to herself, amazed that they still had no idea. The guild door shut heavily as she got into the street.

Cobra's arm dropped around her shoulder, and she hugged into him before he let go again. His stomach growled and Lucy teased him before suggesting they get lunch.

"What do you want?" He asked her, walking from the guild hall into Magnolia town centre.

"I don't mind, really. You pick." Lucy shrugged.

Cobra pushed his palms into his eyes in frustration, growling.

"You do this every time." He said to her, teeth gritted so he didn't explode. It was broad daylight, there were too many people around. And he was considerably bigger, and more intimidating, than her. Random shouting wasn't going to garner any positive attention. "I end up picking, then you don't like where we end up. But still eat my fries. So no. This time, you pick."

Lucy rolled her eyes.

"I let you pick because, let's be honest, your dietry requirements are pretty specific." She crossed her arms and huffed.

Cobra smirked, he liked her when she was being petulant. It made him want to push her in the canal they were walking along side, but also pull her close to him. It was confusing. But he didn't care.

"You let me pick, because I eat poison?" He held down a bubble of laughter. But his face must have betrayed his amusement, because Lucy had stopped, and was glowering at him. He couldn't help it. Maybe it was the way she stood, her hand on her hip. Maybe it was her face, looking at him like he was stupid. He pushed her.

The shock in her eyes was enough, and he grabbed her arm before she could fall in the water. It was still likely they'd actually end up going for lunch. He didn't want to wait any longer for her by making her go home to change.

"Asshole!!" She yelled. Several people stopped to look over at them. Lucy hit Cobra in the chest, while all he did was laugh, wiping a fake tear from his eye.

She walked off, sulking. But it didn't take long for him to catch up. His arm draped comfortably over her shoulder, and he was grateful when she didn't immediately shove him off. He wasn't in the doghouse. He kissed her head.

"I can eat normal food you know." He said into her hair.

"What?" Lucy looked up at him.

"Does Salamander only eat fire?" He asked her.

Realization crept into Lucy's brain. Natsu ate _everything._

"I'm an idiot." Lucy groaned.

"Nah, it's cool that you care." He said. Clearing his throat, he quickly added, "So, food. You pick."

Lucy breezed past what he said, trying not to make too much out of it. He was happy she cared about him. It wasn't much, but it was something. They'd been... whatever this was, for a while now. And Lucy did care. But 'feelings' were still an off limits conversational topic.

"Pizza." Lucy said, directing him towards a street vendor.

"Good choice." Cobra grinned.

Because even street food was going to be better than the rabbit food his omnipitent guild master made them eat.


	2. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Natsu figure out the reason behind all the dark guilds popping up around Fiore.

Crime Sorciere left again. Lucy felt hollow. He never found her to say goodbye. Just left. It infuriated her. Left her struggling to breathe. She spoke to Rhys about how she felt. He'd already discussed generalised anxiety disorder and depression with her. Her mood swings, panic attacks, personality changes, along with a number of other symptoms all pointed towards them. Mostly, though, Lucy just felt angry.

And she took it out on her jobs. Getting ever so slightly over zealous when rounding up the bad guys. Kicking a little harder than necessary. Cracking the Fleuve d'etoiles a _lot_ harder than necessary.

Even Natsu got a mouthful when he tried getting into her apartment. Normally she didn't mind. Well, she'd grouch about how late it was, but now she'd rant at him. How he was _invading her privacy_. And that he had _his own house! And bed!_

She always wanted so badly to cave when the hurt and confusion flashed in his stare. She needed to not be sleeping alone. But he wasn't Cobra.

She had been having nightmares. Something she hadn't even discussed with Rhys. She knew it was flashes of what had happened. Why she had ended up in the infirmary, in a coma, for over a month.

The dreams started the same. A splash, and she was viewing everything as though she were behind a waterfall. Voices distorted by water in her ears. Lucy half saw it as she watched herself and Mard. She'd try and get through, to intervene. To stop the pain. But the water came hard and fast, and stopped her. A smash to the back of her head signalled the end of the nightmare. And she would wake, choking. Gasping for breath.

She couldn't put Natsu through that. As far as he knew, she was fine. If a little cranky.

Admittedly, Lucy and Cobra had yet to spend a night together. But Lucy didn't exactly want to put that kind of pressure on him. Or herself. It would mean having a conversation neither of them wanted.

She knew that once the memories returned, it could cause problems. So talking to anyone about it, what happened, or even the nightmares, wasn't something Lucy was ready for. She didn't see it at the time, but Cobra was right in not telling her.

Lucy sighed. Thinking about all of this on her way to the guild hall was tiring her out before she even had to deal with her team.

A smile was slapped over her sleep deprived scowl, and she pushed through the huge doors into the guild hall. She was beyond grateful for the air conditioning as she stepped in out of the sun. The Master had commissioned it for their last rebuild. It was only spring but the air outside was stifling as they approached summer.

"-popping up everywhere. We need to get a grip on the situation." Lucy caught the tail end of Erza's sentence, causing concern to pull at her mask slightly.

"Hey guys!" Lucy greeted them all as she slid onto the bench next to Gray. "What's going on?" She took note of their frowning faces. Whatever it was, it wasn't good.

"We've been debating telling you for a while." Erza told her. Natsu and Gray shot her looks. Clearly, they weren't happy with whatever Erza was about to say.

"What?" Lucy asked, her facade slipping entirely. Had they been talking about her? Did they think she needed protecting? Was she not doing good enough? She gritted her teeth, reigning in her irritation. _They're your_ friends _, Lucy. They care. That's all._

"The dark guilds, the ones we've been trying to disband." Gray told her.

"They exist because they found out that Mard Geer is still alive." Erza broke the news gently.

"Okay?" Lucy was unfazed. Because she didn't understand why they were so concerned about her. Of course something like this would happen. And of course they would be involved. "So what do we do?"

The three of them blinked at her. None of them had expected her to stay so calm.

"W-well," Erza started.

"We need to kill Mard!" Natsu growled.

"We _need_ more information." Gray countered.

"We already know that Mard plans on reviving his demons." Erza explained. She added, before Lucy could interject, "Or creating new ones."

"Aren't Jellal and the others looking into this as well?" Gray asked.

"That's what they're doing?" Lucy asked, peering over Erza's shoulder to get Mira's attention.

"Cobra didn't tell you?" Natsu asked. Gray and Erza exchanged a glance, but were distracted by Mirajane asking if they wanted food or drinks.

They all placed orders, seemingly forgetting about Natsu's slip up. Lucy didn't glaring at him while he winced, his face creasing in apologetic guilt.

They discussed the situation for a while. Eating lunch. Checking the board for quick jobs they could do while waiting for more information. If Crime Sorciere were involved, it wouldn't be long before they'd be back with information for Makarov.

He'd asked to be kept updated on Mard Geer after the Labyrinth incident, wanting to avoid any possibilities of further kidnappings. And allowing members of Fairy Tail to be involved as Jellal saw fit.

As dusk rolled around, Lucy stretched.

"I better get going." She said, holding back a yawn.

"Yes, it is getting late." Dark circles had blossomed under Erza's eyes.

They walked out the front together, Lucy hugged her friends before going their separate ways.

The air was fresh, clear. It had rained while they had been working, breaking up some of the humidity that had been so suffocating earlier in the day. Lucy stopped outside the Town Hall to take a deep breath of the night air. She closed her eyes. Her head was clearer than it had been in weeks.

They'd found something with a real purpose, and now a reason for those guilds 'randomly' popping up all over Fiore.

Her eyes opened again, and she smiled a little. She felt good. Her motivation had returned. The sky was beautiful. The stars were shining down at her, smiling back.

She squinted. Something next to the clock tower didn't look right. The stars were off, and one was shimmering and really bright. Lucy was a celestial mage, it was her business to know what was going on with constellations and singular stars. But she couldn't pin point exactly what it was that was wrong here.

She leaned to get a closer look. And then she was nothing but pain. Every inch of her being torn to shreds and reassembled.

She hit her head, but when she came too, she heard waves crashing far below her. Blades of grass were cold and sharp beneath her finger tips. She sat, slowly, pressing tentative fingers to her temple. She hissed when they made contact, but she wasn't bleeding.

Lucy looked around. The sky was far too blue, all the colours were preternaturally vivid. And she could hear singing. Eerie, beautiful voices sang an ethereal song. She crept to the cliffs edge. Women were sat in an alcove, their voices carrying out into the open ocean.

Lucy looked at their legs.

"Oh shit." She gasped. "Not again."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this has been fun.  
> I am on my 7th day out of ten straight days in work. Ten hours a day. And I have a two year old. So the updates for this may be less frequent than they were for Absentis.  
> I'm sorry.  
> Anyway, I'm still loving writing this.  
> Comments and such are always appreciated. <3 <3 <3


	3. Distractions.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cobra is an overthinker.  
> Lucy is trying to get her bearings.

"He's just not as much of an asshole as he used to be." Racer said.

"I don't know what to tell you." Midnight added.

"He's definitely changed." Angel stated.

"He's distracted," Jellal mused, "It could be dangerous."

Cobra heard the conversation between his guildmates and so called friends before he even got close to their camp. Why did everyone forget he could hear them? Until it was convienient to them. Commmunicating across long distances to get him to do their bidding. Then, they remember. But it seems to slip their mind when they want to talk shit behind his back.

He'd only gone to get water, the river was less than half a mile away. He could hear them start about his change in mood the second he was out of sight. He'd ignored it as best he could, focusing on his surroundings and possible threats to both himself and his guildmates.

But it was harder to shut them out the closer he got to them. He shook his head, sighing.

Cobra stepped through the treeline. Right on cue, they all jumped up. Guiltily and half heartedly going about their business.

"You know I can hear you all, right? Even from down by the river." Cobra dropped the bucket of water and crossed his arms. Staring at all of them in turn.

"I tried to tell them." Midnight said from his spot by the fire, with a lazily smug grin on his face.

"Shut up." Cobra sneered, heading into his own tent.

-

Like every night, his dreams were haunted by her. Her laugh, like a symphony, filling the concert halls of his mind. Her curves slowly eclipsed the dreamscape he was trying to stroll through, his legs moving as though through treacle.

He woke up, sweating and annoyed.

_Dammit._

He shouldn't be this distracted. Jellal was right. If he let this keep getting to him, it could have some seriously nasty consequences. They all relied on him to hear things they couldn't, to know when threats lurked, even from a significant distance.

But now, she took up most of the space in his brain.

_Lucy._

He hated himself. Every time they ended up in Magnolia he'd tell himself it would be the last time.

Sure, he'd wanted to get to know her. Wanted something that resembled a 'normal' relationship. But when he realised it was impossible? He tried to cut himself off. But then, when he went back, he'd see her. He was drawn to her. Every little thing confused and fascinated him. The way she reacted to his presence. The way she wanted to look after him that time they went there after they lost an entire village. And the fact she was willing to forgive him every time he went off on her?

Lucy was far too pure for him. He knew it all too well, but he just ruined nice things. So staying far away was the best thing for them both. It'd hurt less over time. Even though he knew he was lying to himself, it was comforting to think he could make things better for her in any way.

At some point, Cobra had fallen back asleep. Before he knew it, he could hear everyone rushing around. Jellal was messing around with his communications lacrima, hanging up a call, shoving it in the pocket of his cloak.

Cobra blinked, trying to focus.

"-missing. Again." That was Meredy.

Tents were being shoved hastily away, metal scraped metal as they were dismantled and slung over backs.

_Missing? What?_

Cobra rubbed his eye, trying to remember where he shoved his shirt the previous night.

"-a few days ago. They last saw her-" Jellal this time, his words cut off as Cobra tripped trying to untangle his ankle from his sleeping bag.

"Cobra!" Angel, Racer and Hoteye yelled in unison, right outside of his tent.

Cobra hissed, pressing a hand to his ear as he emerged from his tent. He was half dressed, still doing the zipper on his pants. His boots were untied and his white undershirt was clinging to his chest where he was still sweaty from being asleep.

"Fuck! What?" He yelled at them, pulling his shirt over his head.

Every single one of his friends turned to look at him. Stopping dead in their tracks. Angel was stuffing clothes in her duffel, Meredy had a spoon of porridge halfway to her mouth. Hoteye and Racer were taking down a tent. It was as though someone had hit pause on their life. The silence was deafening as none of them could even think of what to say to him. Jellal's mouth bobbed, opening and closing like a fishes as he struggled to find words.

Cobra glowered at all of them, his eye catching awkward glances. At him and between each other.

It was Midnight who finally told him. "Lucy is missing." His tone was blasé, almost uncaring. But Cobra knew he was being blunt for his sake. Tiptoeing around this would help absolutely no one.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

The trip to Magnolia took the longest it had ever taken. Cobra was agitated and fidgety. His mood was made worse by everyone's sullen faces and Jellal's attempts at starting conversations on their way to the train station.

After about an hour of trying, he had stopped talking completely.

Cobra would have been thankful for the silence had he not been able to hear the blue haired fuckers inner monologue about being worried and other pointless shit. What did worrying do? Besides making a shitty situation worse, nothing.

Once on the train, it was a little easier. His roiling stomach had him at least partially distracted and most of them had drifted off by the half hour mark.

He watched the world fly by outside the window, picturesque landscapes blended into villages and cities. Blues and greens and yellows blurred by as they flew through the countryside. Through the window, the world was moving faster than he could ever imagine.

But Cobra couldn't help counting down the stations as they inched closer and closer back to Magnolia.

And as pointless as he found worrying to be, he couldn't help the feeling gnawing at his stomach, threatening to eat him alive.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Lucy had wandered far, far away from the cliffs and had ended up in a forest. She was upset and angry and just about every other negative emotion you could imagine. Mostly she was frustrated with herself. Muttering as she navigated a barely there path in the woods. She put a hand out, steadying herself on an ancient oak as she picked her way over it's gnarled roots.

"Can't believe I lost my keys. Again." Lucy muttered to herself. After realising the singing women were in fact mermaids, she had picked herself up, dusted herself off, and realised their usually comforting weight wasn't there.

She nearly screamed in pure irritation when she realised. She'd had them when she left the guild, so they either didn't make the journey here, or, they'd fallen off when she was spit out this side.

"Wherever this side is." She growled, low enough that she wouldn't be heard.

Hopefully.

A branch snapped behind her and as she turned, a shape darted behind a tree. Laughter peeled almost maniacally from all around her.

She should have known those hopes would have been short lived, and she braced herself. Ready to fight whatever came at her.

She may not have had her stardress, but her training after her recovery had made her stronger than she'd ever been. Meditation and self defence had made her senses sharper, and overall, she was a much more dangerous adversary.

However, she hadn't been expecting what emerged from the trees. She hesitated from shock and confusion, and once again, she found herself being knocked unconcious.


	4. Pirate Ship.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy finally realises where she is.

Lucy came to when someone dumped cold water on her. She choked and spluttered, terrified. Something flashed in her memory. A fist. Blood and spit on someones face. Sitting up, she wiped her wet hair out of her face and eyes. Her head hurt in two places now. Before she got a chance to analyse the small memory, her stomach rolled and she was half expecting to be tied up, but she wasn't.

She was, however, surprised to find herself surrounded by children. It was disorienting, she was sat on a grassy bank next to a waterfall, looking up at a group of children, probably not much older than Wendy, with faces like thunder.

One, dressed all in green, was right in her face, his nose inches from hers. He was angry, but fear flashed in his golden eyes.

"Where is she?" He growled at her.

"Where is who?" She snapped. Maybe she shouldn't be provoking the furious teen with the knife in his belt, but she was lost, confused, and now soaking wet.

"Tink! Where is Tink?!" He yelled at her, followed by a chorus of children yelling pretty much the same thing.

"I don't even know what a 'Tink' is." Lucy looked him right in the eye as she used her fingers to make the inverted commas around "Tink".

The kid straightened. He sighed as he scrubbed a hand down his face.

"Look," He said to her, resignation settling on his face, "She disappeared in a flash of light right when you came into view in the sky."

"Then I don't know what to tell you," Lucy explained, she felt bad for him. Clearly he'd lost his friend. All of these boys looked so very very lost. "I'm sorry."

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Jellal had not been in the least bit prepared for what he saw when he got up to the infirmary at Fairy Tail. He got there, and Erza was waiting for him. His eyes found the bed she was sitting next to, and he couldn't speak for a moment.

He swallowed.

"Is that-"

"Yep." Erza didn't take her eyes off the form in front of her.

"How did she-"

"We dont know."

"Is she-"

"She's asleep."

Jellal sank into a chair next to Erza.

"An actual fairy." He breathed. Her skin glowed with an ethereal beauty, as though a star burned beneath her skin. Her hair was like spun gold. Her green dress, what little he could see about the sheet that covered her, was charred and ripped. And her wings. Oh, her wings. Though they looked as though they were fashioned from the most delicate crystal he could see they were stronger than diamond. The muscles in her back, the ones that controlled the wings, were toned and clearly well trained. Even tucked against her, he could see every fibre of their make-up. How perfectly crafted they were. In the light, colours fractured through each pane. It was a devastating sight to behold.

"An actual fairy." Erza echoed, still unable to tear her gaze away.

-

 _"An actual fairy."_ Cobra's head snapped up.

"What?" Midnight asked lazily. Angel and the others stared at him as well.

"An actual fairy?" Cobra repeated the words.

"Oh, he's gone insane." Angel snorted, returning to her drink.

Cobra growled, low. He was already on edge. No one at the guild knew what the hell was going on. Just that Lucy was gone and they found someone close to where they had last seen her. 

His whole body felt itchy. But it was an itch deep beneath the surface he knew he couldn't scratch. He felt incomplete. He looked around. Gajeel and Levy. Gray and Juvia. Even Happy and Carla. He was a half finished jigsaw in a room of completed puzzles.

Frustration and anger boiled inside of him, until he couldn't take it. He stormed up to the infirmary. Lucy was gone, fuck knew where, and the only clue as to her whereabouts was taking a nap?

"I think the fuck not." He muttered to himself as he ascended the stairs.

He forced the door open so hard it ricocheted off the wall and nearly slammed back in his face. Erza and Jellal both stared, gobsmacked at his entrance.

"Wake her up." Cobra demanded.

The two of them continued looking at him in shocked silence.

"Wake. Her. Up. Dammit! She knows where Lucy is."

"How do you know?" Erza asked. Her tone soft, and genuinely curious.

"I can hear her." Cobra's teeth were gritted. He was holding back his fury, tamping it down. If he lost control of his temper now, he'd have zero chance of being involved in the rescue. He focused harder on the sleeping girl's soul. "She's dreaming of somewhere else. Her mind is homesick."

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"- I hit my head, saw the mermaids, and now I'm here." Lucy shrugged. The anger on the young boys faces had given way to both shock and silence.

The boy in green, offered her a hand up.

"I'm Lucy, by the way." She said as she, once again, dusted down her knees. 

"Peter." The boy said, jabbing a thumb at his own chest. Turning, he pointed at each of the others and rattled off their names, "Tootles," a short boy who Lucy couldn't remember laughing or making much of any noise, "Slightly," the fox faced one who looked like he was too sly for his own good, "Nibs," who was fidgeting and struggling to stay still, "Cubby," robust and happy, Lucy couldn't help smiling at him. Lastly, Peter pointed at two boys who looked eerily similar, "And they're the twins." _That explains it then._

"Nice to meet you all." She grinned.

"Sounds like we need to get you back home." Peter said to her, leading them all deeper into the woods.

"And find Tink!" Nibs chimed in.

They walked for a few minutes. Lucy took the scenery in as the walked along the river away from the waterfall. Everything shimmered and shone in the late spring sun. Bugs danced in the leaf dappled light like jewels in the air. Birds sang high in the trees and Lucy couldn't help but feel a deep familiarity.

Something about this place reminded her of her childhood. Of her nanny reading to her before bed.

She shoved the feeling aside. Trying to enjoy the walk.

However, their names registered slowly. Everything clicked into place. Peter. Mermaids. _lost_ boys.

And then as a treehouse came into view, her eyes rolled so hard her skull ached behind them.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Despite the fact that Jellal, Erza and Porlyusica told him it was a bad idea, Cobra woke the fairy up. She bolted upright, gripping the metal headboard of the medical bed. She looked from Cobra to Erza to Jellal and back again.

This girl was absolutely terrified. Her eyes were wide and shimmered with tears.

_Where? Who?_

"She's mute." Cobra stated. Matter of fact.

Erza and Jellal both stared at him. "What?" They said together.

"Well, that was creepy." Cobra stared back at them, but snapped out of it. "She can't speak.

"We know what it means, Erik." Jellal ignored Cobra's glare at the use of his real name and continued, "Can _you_ hear her?"

Cobra rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Obviously. But her vocab is-" he paused, shrugging with one shoulder, "limited."

Jellal lifted an eyebrow.

"All I'm getting is one word sentences and flashes of faces. And a goddamn pirate ship." Cobra informed them.

Erza and Jellal exchanged a look, then looked back at Cobra again.  
"Pirate ship?" the said together.

"God damn it, why?" Cobra really, _really_ hated it when they did that.


	5. Story Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angel confronts Cobra about his recent behaviour.  
> Lucy explains her past run ins with Mard Geer to Peter and his lost boys.

Lucy couldn't figure out what to do. As a writer, she found that when she was stuck, focusing on anything else for a while would usually help her overcome the block. So while Peter tried to figure out where his friend had gone, she asked them questions. Hoping it would help them as well.

"So," She started, settling on a lump of log, worn smooth by years of use, "How did you all end up here?"

Peter blinked at her, slowly. As though he didn't understand her question. His head tilted in contemplation for a second. And he shrugged.

"I don't remember." He told her sadly, then looked to the others, who were sharpening weapons or restringing them. "I rescued them though. The ones I could."

Lucy was intrigued. She knew the story of Peter Pan, Neverland, the Lost Boys, Captain Hook. But it seemed the inspiration behind it was darker. Peter told her, how Hook was actually a really powerful wizard, stealing children from anywhere he could, swapping them out for changelings, infiltrating strong families and magical worlds for his own gain.

"For what though?" Lucy had asked.

"Power?" Peter shrugged. "He was building an army of some kind. Had a really powerful group of followers, too. He disappeared for a long time. We were happy. Neverland was quiet and fun again." A nostalgic smiled crossed his impish mouth, but it was short lived, replaced by a flat line of anger and determination. A look Lucy understood in her soul.

"But then he came back?" Lucy pressed on.

Peter nodded, biting his lower lip. "He was alone, save for his right hand man."

"Smee." Lucy said.

"Smee?" Confusion replaced the fury on Peters face, "No," He said, "Franmalth."

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"That sounds like that children's book." Juvia said when Erza told her team of the information Cobra had gleaned from the fairy.

"What?" Gray, Wendy, Natsu and Happy all said at the same time.

"You know?" She blushed, "Peter Pan? The fairy is clearly Tinkerbell." This time she was met with silence. Which was almost immediately broken by laughter. Juvia huffed, crossing her arms.

"She's right." Erza interjected, cutting off every last laugh in the hall.

"Of course she is." Cobra rolled his eye. _How in the hell does baby spice keep ending up in these bat shit mental situations?_

"And you think Lucy might be, where? Neverland?" Gray said directly to Erza, completely ignoring Cobra.

"We can't say for sure, we only know that this-" Erza hesitated, gesturing towards the infirmary where Jellal waited with the still resting fairy.

"Tinkerbell." Juvia offered.

"Tinkerbell," Erza smiled her thanks at Juvia, "Isn't from here."

"That's helpful." Angel said, sidling up to where the group were sat at their usual table. The rest of Crime Sorciere with her.

"Very." Cobra added.

"You know," Gray's voice was low, threatening, "If you're not going to say, or do, anything helpful, you can just leave, all of you." He made his eyes meet with each of theirs individually. Only feeling guilty when he met Richard's, sorrow filled eyes. He looked away.

Cobra sucked his teeth. He wasn't going to get into this here with them. They had all been sat on their asses, doing fuck all but _wait_ around for someone else to do the work. For someone else to find out any information. Even the great Titania was all comfy in that room with the fairy, _waiting_ for her to wake up. If she'd been unconscious, or even remotely injured, he'd get it.

But she was just... taking a nap?

He couldn't get his head around how Lucy's friends were so willing to do absolutely nothing while she was fuck knew where, possibly getting her ass handed to her again.

And it was that thought that caused him to storm out.

"The hell!?" Angel yelled after him, ready to give chase.

"Let him go," Gray scoffed, "Good riddance."

Angel rounded on him.

"Listen here, you little emosicle." She jabbed her finger at his bare chest, causing him to lean back in his chair, his eyes widened, ever so slightly. That small betrayal of his fear was all the fuel Angel needed for this fire. She grabbed the arm rests, holding it with the front legs suspended in the air. "He-" She shoved a finger at the door, "-was the one that woke that fairy up. He has been-"

"Angel." Midnight grabbed her shoulder. She stopped. Breathing hard. She was so close to Gray's face that her eyes darted back and forth trying to look into his.   
Angel dropped the chair, snarling as she did, and stomped towards the guild hall doors.

-

"Erik!" Cobra could hear Angel before she caught up to him. He heard her nearly verbally rip Gray a new one before Midnight stopped her. He could hear how much she cared, but he didn't want to be near her, or anyone. "Wait!"

He growled. "What?" Cobra stopped, turning where he stood to face Angel as she slowed her approach.

"You, what the hell?" She panted at him.

He rolled his eye. Honestly, his eye socket was getting more of a work out than the rest of him lately. "I am not talking to you about this, Angel."

"Look. I am not going to pretend that I understand what's going on with you at the moment. Or at any point really. I've known you longer than anyone, and I still don't get you. Which isn't fair because you know everyone better than everyone else, what with your-"

"Angel." Cobra raised an eyebrow. She always rambled when she couldn't quite decide between ripping someone's face off or hugging them. Thankfully, she knew that doing either to Cobra would result in her being skinned.

"Right." She cleared her throat. " _Something_ is going on with you. And it's got something to do with Lucy. If not _everything_ to do with her."

He glared at her, still with no intention of moving. He hated to admit it, even to himself, but she was right. He needed to hear her out, even if he didn't want to. He couldn't keep running. From the guild. From his friends. From Lucy and his feelings.

"Don't act like you think we can't tell." She sighed, "You know what I mean. Your magic makes this so confusing. You know we know something. But you keep pretending like it's all the same as it was." Her shoulders sagged, "Seeing her like that messed you up." Cobra winced at the memory of her lying in that bed, hooked up to machines. But Angel continued. "I mean, for the first time since we got out of prison, you separated yourself from us. From Midnight."

Cobra hadn't thought about it from their point of view. They had been together every day since the tower. Apart from prison, and those few hours for the Dragon King Festival. Midnight was his best friend. Richard and Sawyer were his brothers. Angel was his first... everything.

And he let them go to make sure Lucy was okay. Not even just to wait for her to wake up in the infirmary. He didn't hesitate in following her into that tear.

He was so, infatuated by her soul he couldn't help it. He would always follow that sound, those colours. It was soothing. A balm on every wound he'd ever endured. He _forgot everything_ around her. Even himself.

"I know you feel responsible Er-"

Cobra scoffed.

"She disappeared while you weren't here." Angel fixed him with a stare. The one she always used when she knew she was right. "I know you have your issues, Erik. Shit, I know that better than most people."

He bit out a laugh.

"And I know you can't stand sitting around, thumbs up our asses while we figure out what to do. But we will figure it out." Her voice was soft, understanding. It barely carried over to him over the sounds of the city behind him and the water next to him.

"I hate it when you're right." Cobra growled.

Angel's mouth split into a shit eating grin.

"That's why." He said, while she laughed maniacally.

"I know." The grin never left her face, even as he turned, and still walked away.

He couldn't just sit in the hall, doing absolutely fuck all. He needed answers, and he would get them.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Shock settled into Lucy's bones. Making her rigid and unresponsive. Her eyes glazed over and she struggled to get her breath.

"Mard." She gasped.

Peter stared at her. Again. "How do you know his real name?" He kept his face neutral, he must have thought he looked natural, almost disinterested. But Lucy could see right through it.

"I'm the reason he returned alone." She whispered, her voice shaking and small. "Me and my friends."

"What?" Peter couldn't hide his consternation this time.

The whole treehouse had gone quiet. Lucy realised the other boys were staring at them, waiting for an explanation.

She gathered them around her, and told them. Everything, from the battle between Fairy Tail and Tartaros. Zeref's appearance, Mard supposedly being dead. Then everything with The Labyrinth the previous year. She told them about the room full of stairs, of chasing Wendy, and she stuttered.

"What happened?" Nibs asked, his eyes were wide, fascinated as though this were a bed time story.

"I-I don't remember." Lucy whispered. She cleared her throat, "I woke up at home. I'd been unconscious for a month." The boys around her gasped. Slightly adjusted his position from lying, forward on his elbows, to sat upright. "Co- My friend, was there when I woke up. He'd rescued me." Lucy was blushing furiously and she knew it. She bit her lip, trying not to smile at the memory of Cobra being there when she woke up, holding her hand as Porlyusica removed that horrendous tube from her throat.

The twins exchanged a look. Cubby whistled. The others starting making noises and whooping. Peter promptly put an end to it.

"Well." Peter said, standing, "Sounds like you know Hook better than we ever did." He grabbed his hunting knife from where he'd hung it by the entrance.

As he did, the other boys rushed around, grabbing bows and arrows, swords, slingshots. Everything they had been tuning up earlier. They bolted from the tree house, seemingly understanding some plan that Lucy didn't.

She went to follow them, but Peter stopped her before she could exit.

His amber eyes found hers, pleading, desperate.

"Help us get Tink back? Help us get our _home_ back? And we'll help get you home, too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well! The updates for this have been spotty at best, and I am sorry.  
> I've had a LOT going on. I want to explain but I don't want to feel like I'm making excuses?  
> I mean, I'm doing this for fun :')  
> But still.  
> I hope you're all still enjoying it as much as I am.  
> Leave comments and let me know <3


	6. Love The Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cobra is at a loss. He doesn't know how to get to Lucy.  
> Bickslow reveals a bit about his past with Lucy.

Cobra walked until it got dark. He walked until he was bone tired and his brain hurt from thinking.

He was ready to turn and go back to Fairy Tail when a smell caught him.

Something sweet, but smokey. Something that triggered a violent reaction in his gut. He almost wretched but he stopped himself. Breathing, in through his nose and out of his mouth as he followed the scent.

It led him to right outside the town hall. He inhaled deeply. The smell was definitely strongest here. Like someone poured sugar on a fire pit.

But something else was there. Strawberry very finely undercut the sickly smoke smell.

He looked around.

It was late, and he was alone. The smoky scent was tied to something nearby, but the strawberry? That was a couple days old. He glanced up, at the clock tower. And something shimmered next to it.

"For fucks sake."

-

Gray and Erza were talking quietly, but vigorously. He was being reprimanded for his earlier behaviour. Which Natsu and Happy found hilarious. They struggled to hold in their laughter while Gray gave them the stink eye.

Angel, Racer and Midnight were playing some ridiculous drinking game with Cana. Hoteye had already left with Jellal to get some sleep.

Everyone in the hall was milling about, minding their business. It was a Tuesday, so no one was too rowdy.

Though the sticky smell of booze still lingered.

Mirajane nearly dropped the glass she was cleaning when Cobra burst back in.

He stomped through the hall, straight up to Erza, whispering something before they disappeared up to Makarov's office.

"What the hell?" Natsu said, setting himself on a bar stool next to Gray.

"No idea." Gray murmured.

A voice from behind them made them both jump.

"He knows what's happened to Lucy."

"Bickslow! Jeez man, don't do that!" Gray yelped.

Bickslow's mouth broke into his trademark grin, tongue lolling out, proudly showing his guild mark.

"How does he know what's happened to her?" Natsu glanced sideways at the seith mage.

"Don't know." He shrugged.

"Then how do _you_ know?" Gray wondered.

Bickslow removed his visor, eyes glowing green by way of explanation. He sighed, sitting at the bar.

"You can tell everything from the colour of someone's soul. His is usually red and black, marbled with frustration and anger. But there's a kind of green in there now, bleeding through the red."

Natsu and Gray both just looked at him.

"Green is the opposite of red. Frustration. Green means he's figured something out. And the only thing he's concerned about right now is finding Lucy." Bickslow told them.

"Again," Gray asked "How do you know that?"

Bickslow sighed, again. It was a sad, almost defeated noise.

"Because he loves her."

Natsu and Gray stared at him. Wide eyed. Shock making their mouths flap like fish desperate for breath.

They managed to compose themselves for long enough to turn their stares to each other, before bolting out of the hall.

-

It hurt Bickslow to admit it. But he knew Lucy loved Cobra too. He saw her eyes light up, golden, whenever he walked into the guild. They did that for Bickslow once, too. But this was different, deeper, warmer.

It matched the deepest part of her soul. A part so deep, she had no idea it was there. Bickslow Was shocked Cobra hadn't picked up on it yet. Given how similar their magic was. But, he guessed they were both so focused on everything at the surface. They weren't ready to go that deep yet.

Shit, Cobra couldn't stick around long enough for a real, meaningful conversation.

Not that that meant anything.

Bickslow had plenty of time. He could have still been hers. If he had just been honest. It hurt, remembering.

How she'd beam at him when the Thunder Legion got back from a mission. There was the time they'd come back in the middle of a really bad storm. Timed so Laxus could power up. Only Lucy and his best friends knew, the rumbling of the sky shook him to his very core.

They'd come back, standing in the door frame of the guildhall, soaked through. Evergreen was shaking, Freed and Laxus were seemingly unbothered, if slightly wet. Bickslow had his stupid grin plastered on his face, but his Cosplayer saw his eyes.

"Oh Bix!" She squealed when she hugged him, "You're drenched!" She'd grabbed his hand, leading him back out again, "Come on, I live closer. You can dry yourself at mine."  
His relief was unreal.

The walk to her apartment still had him on edge, but her hand tightened around his every time lights crashed overhead. He was grateful. She knew exactly what to do to calm him down.

He loved her in that moment.

In that moment, he had her. She was his. She'd looked back at him and smiled.

Now? He dreamed. Dreams of her while she was far away. He had convinced himself the feelings wouldn't last. He'd be okay. But memories played like movies in his head, all day. Every day since she called things off. 

He would catch himself, wishing they would go away. But memories were better than nothing. Better to have loved, then lost, than to never have loved at all, right?

She took him inside the apartment. Removing his visor while they still stood in the door way. She pushed his wet hair out of his face. He closed his eyes, leaning into her hand. He loved the way she touched, she felt. He loved the way it was real. Her love in that gesture was _real._

Now, when he see's her, in the guild, around town. He's left wondering, will she call to him? Or would she ignore him. Looking down at her feet?

He'd hear laughter outside his apartment. Or in the guild hall. He'd think it was her, even knowing she wasn't there. And it had to be someone else.

From the day he met her, he knew she'd change his whole world. He'd begun picturing them together forever. Her as his wife, him the doting husband.

They'd joked, once, about having kids. They'd been talking about Bisca and Alzack, wondering how they'd come up with Asuka.

"Eh," Bickslow had shrugged. "I'd just call ours Lucy or Bickslow."

She'd laughed, "No!" She shifted her postion on the sofa, sitting upright rather than lying on him. "We'd have to come up with something else."

"Fine," He pulled tongues at her, "I promise we wont call him Bickslow."

She rolled her eyes mirthfully, smacking his arm before settling back onto him with a book.

The fact she hadn't argued about having kids in the first place pulled at his heart. Making it flutter and sing. Now, the thought made him feel sick.

He missed her. Her arms around his waist. How she had to tiptoe to kiss him, but never once complained. How easily she fit in his arms. He even missed that when they'd watch a film, she wouldn't pay attention and would ask him over and over what was going on until he just threw popcorn at her.

He wouldn't think about the arguments. Not while he was still in the guild hall. He would seek Laxus out at some point and talk it through with him again. Laxus helped him see why they were no good together.

And even though he wanted the best for her, not a part of him wanted her less. He just hoped Cobra was good to her. Bickslow hoped she got the best of him.

He knocked his drink back. He couldn't be here any more. Not when everything was about her, and he felt far too hopeless to be any help.

-

"Mard has her." Cobra blurted out as soon as Makarov's office door clicked shut behind him and Erza. He didn't give them a chance to ask what he meant, "There's another tear. By the Town Hall clock tower. I could smell her."

Erza opened her mouth, but Cobra cut her off.

"I'm going after her. I'm not letting that asshole kill her." He was growling now, a rumble low in his throat as he spoke. He paced, working out his frustration on the carpet.

"Cobra," Erza tried to reason with him, her eyes following him as he stomped between the sofa and the desk, "Even if he does have her, you can't just go rushing after her. If it's anything like last time, we don't know what the situation is."

Makarov broke in, "She didn't drop her keys this time either. If something happens, we'd have no way of finding you."

Cobra snarled in frustration, stopping his one man marathon in a square meter space. In the back of his head, he knew they were right. Logically speaking, he'd be a fucking idiot to go jumping through time and space knowing absolutely shite all about where he was going, or what waited on the other side.

But at the forefront of his consciousness, he _could not_ just sit around, twiddling his thumbs, waiting for Jellal or whoever to fart out the answer. It made no sense! Someone in this building knew something. Even if she couldn't tell them outright. He could use her. He could get that fairy to be his own personal guidance system.

He spun. Flying out of the room, the door slamming closed behind him.

Erza looked to Makarov. "I didn't like the look on his face."

"Hmm." Makarov agreed.

"Surely you're not just going to let him go off like that?" Erza demanded.

Makarov was seated, contentedly behind his desk. Eyes closed, hands folded neatly in his lap. He had fallen asleep.

Erza clucked, rolling her eyes, and followed Cobra, hoping she knew where he was headed.

-  
It wasn't often that Erza was wrong, but she had really hoped she would be this time. Cobra was exactly where she thought he'd be. Interrogating Tinkerbell in the infirmary.  
"-and you know the area. So you're coming with me."

Cobra wasn't being massively aggressive, but Erza knew just how intimidating he could be without intending to be. How he couldn't tell the poor girl was petrified was beyond her.

Or maybe he was well aware, but just couldn't find it within himself to care.

He was a man on a mission. And Erza's heart almost broke for him. Desperation clung to his words like ivy on a decaying building. She had to stop him.

"Cobra." Her voice was short, sharp. It cut through Cobra's words, stopping them dead in their tracks.

He spun to face her, Tinkerbell's wrist in his hand.

"What!" Spittle flew.

Erza knew Cobra. She'd fought against him on more than one occasion. So she knew what he looked like angry, focused, working towards a goal that wasn't his own. A viper, waiting, strategizing. Knowing when to strike and where.

It was a stark contrast to what she was seeing now. He was a wild animal. Trapped, confused, hurt. He didn't know what to do, and he was taking it out on everyone around him.  
"We will find Lucy," Erza sid to him. "But this," She gestured with her chin to his hand, the fairies arm, "This isn't how."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I said I was going to take a break and shock horror, I lied. Again.  
> I do need a break. And I am going away next week, so I wont have my laptop.  
> So hopefully this will be enough to tide you all over until I can update again.  
> AND some of this chapter was inspired by I Love The Way by Diamonds in the Dark. Which is honestly my favourite song at the moment.  
> Thank you all for reading <3


	7. Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angel and the others finally lose it over Cobra's erratic and possibly dangerous behaviour.

Cobra dropped Tinkerbell's arm. Well, he threw her hand back to her. She clutched her wrist, trembling, her eyes filling with tears as she scuttled back towards the headboard.

"Then how?" Cobra fought to stop the words from coming out broken. Erza was silent. "Come on, Titania. Tell me. How?" He could feel fear and desparation clawing at his throat, crying to be unleashed. Terror pricked around his eye, threatening to spill over. But he kept it in check. He wouldn't _couldn't_ , start crying right now. He didn't when he was beaten, torn to pieces by those he thought loved him. He refused to give into whatever this was.

"I don't know, Cobra." She sighed. "Okay? I am sorry. We all miss Lucy." She was still standing in the doorway, her gaze switching between Cobra and, the now calmer, Tink. He resolve deepened as she spoke. "We _will_ find her. I can promise you." She stepped into the room. Closer to Cobra, and looked him in the eye. "But rushing around with no plan," She gestured at the fairy, still in her bed, still silent, "scaring the only people who can help, isn't the way to do it."

Cobra seethed. Air screaming through his flared nostrils. He stomped past Erza. Honestly she was a little shocked he hadn't stomped his way through the bottom of his boots by this point.

Erza sighed as he slammed the door behind him, running her fingers through her hair. She shook her head, and made her way over to Tinkerbell.

She sat on the chair next to the bed. Tink gingerly settled herself in a more central position. Her legs were folded under her, and she was swamped in the infirmary pyjamas. The pale blue washing out her already pale face. Her golden hair had started to fade, and she was generally miserable looking. It wasn't helped by the fact that fat tears had started rolling down her face, dripping from her chin onto the mattress.

She used the back of her hand to wipe them away while she sniffed up.

Erza felt for this poor girl.

"It's been a rough few days." Erza frowned, it wasn't a question, but Tinkerbell nodded. "Can you really not talk at all?" Tinkerbell shook her head, sadly. Erza's frown deepened, her shoulders sagging. "Do you need anything?"

Tinkerbell's eyes lit up slightly, and she gestured with her hands, miming eating with a spoon or a fork with one hand, while the other held an invisible bowl.

It was getting late, so Erza didn't know if Mira would have any food left. "I'll have a look and see what we have." She got up, smiling. Having something to do made her feel better, and distracted her, however briefly, from the bigger task at hand.

The guild hall was mostly empty. Crime Sorciere had disappeared entirely. Mira was cleaning some cutlery behind the bar. Erza leaned on the top, her armour clattering against the now clean mahogany.

"Hi, Erza!" Mirajane chirped without even turning around.

A small smile pulled at the corner of Erza's mouth.

"Hello, Mira."

"You okay?" Mira turned now, wiping her hands down her apron.

Erza nodded, "I was just wondering, do you have any food left? Tinkerbell asked for food."

Mira cocked her head, raising an eyebrow. "Asked?"

Erza explained what had happened with Cobra, how Erza just wanted to do something, anything, to cheer the young woman up. "So she gestured for food." She told her friend.

"Ah." Mira's usual smile faltered slightly, her eyes glazing briefly as she wondered if there was any food left. "We might have some ramen?" She offered.

"Perfect." Erza beamed at the barmaid.

-

Cobra had left the guildhall, Angel and Midnight were hot on his heels. Racer had left before Cobra had even come back from the infirmary.

They had stayed quiet all the way to where they had set up their camp. Letting Cobra work his rage off through storming through the streets of Magnolia. And boy did he storm. He went up and down several streets. Nothing was helping him quash his rage. They were lucky it was late at night and the streets were empty, or Midnight would have probably had to apologise to far too many members of the public for broken noses or poison burns by now.

But back at the campsite, Cobra got an idea. He pitched his plan to his friends. But they stared at him.

"What?" He growled. "Have a grown an extra foot on my fucking face? What?"

"Cobra," Angel said, her voice low and calm. She was worried. Cobra _never_ acted irrationally. And never pitched ideas that were batshit insane. Well, he did, but in a psychotic way, not a 'I'm a total dipshit' way. Concern pulled at her features, her hand itched to reach out, to comfort him. But she knew better. And liked her skin where it was. "We can't do that. _I_ can't do that."

Cobra huffed. Vocalising his frustration was beyond his comprehension at this point. She he roared into the sky.

As if he could sense the impending tantrum, Jellal appeared.

"Cobra." He went unheard, he was also worried, but he couldn't allow this. Cobra was unhinged at the best of times. But he was also logical, reasonable (most of the time) and knew when to step back and figure things out. He was none of these things now.

"Cobra." He tried again, louder.

"What?!" Cobra turned on them. They had all gathered behind Jellal. Scared. Apprehensive. Cobra was heaving his breaths now. Everything was bubbling under the surface. That which had been simmering, now threatened to boil over and consume him. And it would burn. He knew it would.

"You're acting like a petulant brat." Jellal said, matter of fact-ly. Cobra stared, blinking. Numb. "You can't just ask for the impossible and throw a hissy fit when no one can deliver."  
"How is it impossible?" Cobra's eye was wide as he leaned into the question, "Huh? She," He jabbed a finger at Angel, who flinched, "Is a celestial wizard. It's not too much to ask for her to get in contact with a spirit. We need to get Lucy back, from fuck knows where, with fuck knows who."

Angel stiffened, her face changing from fearful to fearsome. Her back straightened and she stepped out from behind Jellal. Facing Cobra down in the firelight. She was filled with rage, overpowering her worry. Cobra wasn't right. Something in him had broken and she needed to snap him out of it.

"I _was_ a celestial wizard." She said calmly. Her arms crossed defiantly over her chest. "I haven't held a contract since Lucy took my keys during Nirvana." Her throat bobbed but she wouldn't allow her voice to waver. "You know this Cobra. You _know_ I cannot call to any spirit." She swallowed again. "And you know how much it hurt-" Angel's voice cracked on the last word. "How much it hurt me to say goodbye to that part of my life. So for you to ask me? Like it's no big deal?" Her bottom lip quivered as she stared at Cobra. Daring him to respond. Silence engulfed the campsite. Embers crackled in the pit next to them as smoke filled the space between them.

"I'm sorry." Cobra's voice was small. Barely above a whisper.

"Just tell us why." Jellal cut in. Angel didn't turn, but Cobra's eye found him. "What is going on with you? Why are you so hell bent on figuring this out? On finding Lucy?"

All of them stared, waiting. Cobra breathed deeply, hanging his head as he exhaled, long and slow, giving him time to think. He scrubbed a hand down his face.

"You didn't see her." He told them, his eye glassy. Seeing past them.

"What?" Jellal asked, taking a step towards Cobra.

Cobra put his arm out, stopping him from coming closer. Jellal halted, but didn't move back.

"You didn't see her when I found her." Cobra had his hands locked behind his neck now, his face directed towards the sky. Stars were visible in the break in the trees surrounding the clearing. "She would have loved this."

"What are you talking about?" Racer said.

Cobra shook his head, he couldn't get off the point. Midnight knew a bit, but not enough.

"Lucy was so-" He put his hands in front of himself, as though he were trying to piece something back together, he pursed his lips, trying to find the words, "-so damaged." He closed his eyes, trying to block out the memory. Blood coming from her nose and mouth. The bruises around her eyes. A doll, kicked, beaten and discarded. "I can't let her go through that again." His eye found Midnight. "I can't" He whispered.

"Cobra," Jellal said again, "It's not your sole responsibility to find Lucy. We're all working towards a way to bring her home."

"I have to find her."

"Why?" Angel asked this time.

Cobra closed his eye. Leasing a breath through his nose. "Because I can't lose her again."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 10 DAYS.  
> This is probably the longest I've gone without posting on a story I'm still actively writing.  
> Jesus.  
> I hope it was worth the wait and I'm sorry.  
> (My week off work was amazing. I spent it 240 miles away with my 2 year old. And a f*ck load of gin.)  
> Please let me know what you think in the comments!!


	8. Uisce Beatha

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy is tired, hot, fed up. But she finds something that might help.  
> Fairy Tail also finally get something that might help.

"What do you mean 'lose her'?" Angel asked, trying her damndest not to sneer. It was hard, but she managed it. Her words were clipped with the effort.

Cobra told them. The feelings he'd developed during their time in The Labyrinth, even if he still didn't fully understand them. Himself and Lucy sneaking off whenever they went back to Magnolia. How he'd told her about the incident when they failed an entire village. How she had comforted him in what little way he would allow. How he'd been mad at himself for upsetting her.

Angel's eyes welled up. Midnight and Racer stared. Jellal was stoic as ever.

Hoteye couldn't help himself though, "You love her, oh y-."

"Shut up, you human octagon." Cobra hissed. Hoteye closed his mouth as Cobra spun sharply, sealing himself in his tent.

"Well-" Racer said.

"Shit." Midnight finished the thought.

-

Lucy was ready to collapse. They had been walking for several hours. Navigating dense forest, in a heat that was almost unbearable. She was so hot, that she didn't care what the humidity was doing to her hair. The bits that weren't frizzing out were stuck to her face. Sweat stung her sleep heavy eyes, she was struggling not to pass out where she stood.  
She was finding it harder and harder not to trip over the roots jutting out at awkward angles all over the non existent path they were taking. Peter had explained that there were no well worn paths. They had to take different ways every time they went anywhere, covering any tracks they did make. And tried to keep to where the trees canopy kept them well hidden. They couldn't risk being followed, or found.

When they reached a river, she fell to her knees, drinking deeply. The water was so unreal in it's refreshment, she would have thought she was dreaming had it not been ice cold. The bite as she rinsed her face woke her up, rejuvenating her. She felt alive again.

"We'll stop here a while." Peter announced to them all. Even the lost boys looked a little shattered, their already tattered clothes looking more ragged for having stumbled through underbrush and dirt tracks. "Rest up, catch our breath. Strategize."

Lucy stopped gulping down water, something under the water was glinting. Her face twisted, a frown contorting her dirty features. She reached in, the water stinging her arm up to her elbow. She kept going, her face was pressed against the grassy riverbank before she realised she couldn't reach.

She squinted. The water wasn't moving too fast, but enough for her not to be able to gauge the depth. She couldn't reach the bottom from lying on the ground, but she could see it.  
Lucy stood, and, without really thinking, jumped in.

The shock of how cold it was as she hit the water nearly made her sick. She resurfaced, coughing. Peter and the others were standing on the bank, staring in shock. Lucy cycled her legs, treading water. She looked up at them, spitting water out while she slicked her hair back.

She took a deep breath before going back under. The water was clear, but she couldn't quite make out what it was, shimmering on the rocky riverbed. It was caught between boulders and took a second to get it free, but as soon as her fingers closed around the metal, she knew exactly what it was.

Lucy broke through the surface, triumphant, grinning like a cheshire cat.

Peter and the boys were still staring. The whole thing couldn't have taken longer than a minute. Peter asked "What on earth?" As Lucy held her fist in the air. Dangling from her fingers, were a set of keys.

-

Natsu and Gray were still reeling from Bickslow's revelation. It had been the night before. Shock and disblief had made them run from the hall. And inability to accept that their Lucy would _love_ someone like Cobra.

But the more they thought about it, the more it made sense.

"She'd always disappear when they came to town." Natsu frowned, dropping a rock between his feet, dangling over the edge of the bridge where they sat.

"I figured she couldn't deal with seeing him. You know?" Gray replied to a nodding Natsu. "Like it brought back memories." His hands gripped the cold stones either side of him.  
Natsu nodded, though he wasn't really paying attention. He was watching the sun, peeking up over the horizon, painting the canal in flames. He was angry with himself for not picking up on it. At least not completely. Sure, he knew something was going on with them, he could smell Cobra on her whenever Crime Sorciere were in Magnolia. He knew they hung out, talked. But being in love? It was incomprehensible.

But he heard it in Bickslow's wavering voice. And if anyone knew anything about anybody else's feelings, it would be the Seith who can read souls like books.

If he was honest, Natsu wasn't expecting to see Bickslow so broken about it. Natsu knew he and Lucy had dated, hell, the whole guild did. But it hadn't lasted longer than 8 months. A year at most. It ended pretty unexpectedly, but neither of them were too upset about it. Not really.

Natsu huffed in frustration.

"We should head back." Gray said, shifting around so he could jump back onto the bridge.

"Yeah, probably." Natsu scrubbed his hands down his face.

Lucy had only been gone two days. It really wasn't that long. But it felt like longer, especially with no sleep. Everyone was running in circles, no one was communicating. Natsu was going to talk to Gramps. They needed to sit down, all of them, and figure out how to get her back.

"You coming?" Gray asked.

Natsu jumped down, and they walked back to the guild hall in silence.

-

Erza led Tinkerbell into the guildhall proper. The room had been bustling with activity, Gray and Natsu fighting like cat and dog, Crime Sorciere were chatting away amongst themselves, still pretty much refusing to get involved with Fairy Tail's antics unless absolutely necessary (which usually meant Angel glaring at someone until they backed off). It was a pretty normal day, despite Lucy still being gone.

As they stepped through the door at the bottom of the stairs, silence descended over everything. Like a reverse Mexican wave. The people closest to the main entrance were the last to quiet down. Even Happy had shut up, slowly lowering himself.

"What?" Erza asked, scowling across the entire hall, and everyone quickly resumed what they were doing.

Natsu and Gray had already straightened up before herself and Tinkerbell reached the table, and they were quickly joined by Juvia, Gajeel, Wendy and Levy.

Everyone was awkwardly staring at the fairy. Who was wearing an oversized hoodie and sweat pants with the Fairy Tail emblem on them that Erza had found in storage the night before.

"Tinkerbell wants to help." Erza started, as Crime Sorciere joined them, sliding silently into chairs they'd dragged from closer tables.

They discussed, in length and detail, about how to go about getting both Lucy and Tinkerbell home.

Cobra had calmed considerably since Erza saw him the night before, though she noticed Angel's glance flicker over him worriedly more than once. He was drinking whiskey like it was water, the burning bite keeping him awake. Alive. But he kept his cool, translating for the mute young woman.

After going around in circles over and over, them asking her how she got there, Cobra telling them she didn't know, tensions were rising. Cobra was about ready to snap. Angel's temper was as fraught as Natsu's and Erza was rubbing her temples in an attempt to erase a headache. Everyone was talking over each other. Gray calling Natsu an idiot, Levy shouting at Gajeel for calling both of them stupid, Juvia getting defensive on Gray's behalf. Happy was laughing in mid-air, finding the whole thing hilarious, while Carla scoffed, mumbling something about maturity. Wendy had tried to say something about everyone needing to work together, but it went unheard. 

"Enough." She said, the gauntlets around her wrists clanking as she stood, smacking her hands on the table, everyone instantly shut up, staring at her apologetically. "This isn't helping."

A flash of light blinded them for a second.

Cobra smirked when he looked up, straight into the eyes of the Lion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back in work and the grind is r e a l.  
> So the chapter title. For those of you wondering.  
> It's Irish. It's pronounced ish-ka ba-ha and literally translates into Water of Life. But it means whiskey. Naturally.  
> I thought it was fitting tbh.  
> Anyway, please comment what you think!! <3<3


	9. Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plans are finally coming together to end this once and for all.

Lucy hauled herself out of the water, self satisifed smirk painted across her mouth. She cradled the keys. Guilt and relief warred inside of her. Relief was winning, she had to remind herself over and over that she didn't do this on purpose.

Before she'd even fully stood up, Loke was there, his golden glow bathing her in warmth. Steam rose from her arms, but she was unsure if it was because of him or the ridiculous temperature of this world.

Loke reached out, embracing her. They ignored the others a for a good few seconds as they reunited. Lucy knew it hadn't been long, maybe only a few days, since she last saw him. But again, guilt consumed her. Tears slid down her cheeks, soaking into Leo's jacket lapel.

"Hey," Leo said softly, moving her to cup her face, thumbs brushing the tears away, "It's okay. You're okay." He looked into Lucy's eyes before pulling her against him again.  
She wanted to break down, to sob while he consoled her, but instead, Lucy pulled away. And wiping her tears away herself, introduced Leo to Peter and the Lost Boys. Peter's smile was impish and infectious as she recalled all of their names.

"-and this," She finished, turning to Leo, smiling, "is Leo." She turned back to the boys. "I need to talk to him, can we get a minute?" She smiled at Peter and the others.

"Go ahead, we didn't get a chance to clean up before you took a dive so." Peter shrugged, leading his companions away. Lucy couldn't help staring after them. They were young, sure. But not children. Not like in the books. Peter looked to be about 17, but Lucy saw a wisdom in his gaze that only comes from life experience, and a depth of darkness that years of loss she could never fathom. No wonder he was so upset about Tink. Even the Lost Boys seemed much older than their years, the youngest only looking about 14. Lucy's heart broke for them, wondering how this happened.

"Are you okay, Luce?" Leo's voice brought her back to herself.

"What? Yeah, sorry."

She launched into an explanation, about what happened, how Tinkerbell is missing, how Mard is in Neverland.

"We need to end this." She told him.

"I don't think yo-" Leo started, but Lucy held up her hand to stop him.

"I know. Okay? Last time was bad. But we're not going into this totally blind. Or without a plan. These boys," She swept her hand out behind her, to where they were mucking around in the river, "know more about Mard, or why he's _here_ at least. We can do this. End this. For good." She looked at him. Big, brown eyes boring into his very soul. "Please, Leo."

He sighed, she knew how to play him, and God damnit if he wasn't a fool for allowing himself to be played.

"Okay. What do you need me to do?"

Lucy grinned.

\- 

"Leo!" Wendy jumped up at the sight of The Lion, running to embrace him.

"Lucy's safe." Leo told them all as they stared at him as he patted the blue hair of the young dragon slayer.

Everyone visibly let out long breaths, their shoulders slumped in a lazy synchronisation. Relief settled over the hall like a blanket on a cold day. Tensions diffused and the atmosphere in the entire guild was lighter. Calmer.

"Oh thank goodness." Erza closed her eyes and sighed, clutching her hands to her breast. Silently sending thanks to who or whatever may have been listening.

"But-" Leo's voice was a knife, slicing their relief to shreds. Erza's eyes snapped back open.

"What?" Cobra and Erza growled together.

Leo swallowed, loosening his collar.

"But, she doesn't want to come back." He held up his hands and backed away as both red heads advanced upon him. "Woah! She wants your guys help!"

Erza backed down, crossing her arms across her chest. Mouth set in a hard line of contemplation, ready to listen.

Cobra, however, wasn't impressed, still looming over Leo in the corner of the hall.

"Help? With what?" Cobra ground out before Erza yanked him back, putting him in a chair next to Angel. A growl rippled from his throat, but he was silenced by her stony stare. Hard as he was, he still wasn't going to fuck with Titania, especially not right then.

Leo stood back to full height, pushing his glasses up his nose and told them all her plan. How she wanted to take Mard down once and for all.

"He's still taking magical children. Though she's not entirely sure why." Leo told them all, frowning. "She needs someone to go in, infiltrate his operation and find out why so we can bring it down from the inside."

"How? The only people young enough are Romeo and Wendy." Gray said, using his chin to indicate to the two young mages at the head of the table. "And they've been through enough at his hand. Not to mention, he knows what they look like."

"Gray's right." Juvia nodded.

Wendy frowned. But then her face shone, suddenly, as though a light bulb had gone off in her head.

"There is someone else." She said.

-

After talking through a plan, Wendy and Romeo set off with Gray and Juvia.

Leo was set to take Erza and Natsu to Neverland, planning to come back for Tinkerbell when he got them to Lucy.

"I'm going too." Cobra told them. He didn't ask. He was beyond that. It wasn't good enough that The Lion told them she was fine. He needed to see her. To hold her. To look into her eyes and feel it in her that she really was alright. He'd had enough of failing her. Of running when things got too real.

This was already too real. She was gone, again. And that scared him more than anything he may have felt for her.

Leo looked at him. Right in the eye. And considered, briefly.

"Okay. Wait here with Tinkerbell and I'll come back." And with a flash they were gone.

Hours passed.

The sun had set, painting the hall in hues of purple and blue. Cobra still sat with Tinkerbell. He knew that Leo wouldn't just drop the others there and come straight back. He knew that the Lion spirit would want to make sure they were okay and that Lucy was doing alright, but with each passing second, Cobra grew more and more agitated.

Angel and Midnight shared a glance, picking up on his energy.

The others had gone back to the camp. Jellal would have been useless in the hall, waiting for Erza, wearing holes into the polished floor boards with his pacing. So Richard and Racer offered to go back with him. To keep him occupied.

Tinkerbell had fallen asleep, her arm under her face, the too long sleeve of the hoody covering most of her hand. Golden blonde waves fell over her face, and the similarity made Cobra angry. If not for the huge iridescent wings protruding from the fairy's back, he probably wouldn't have been able to tell them apart.

But she wasn't Lucy. She wasn't snoring or twitching in her sleep. Her face was still alabaster pale, where Lucy's cheeks would turn pink as she drifted. She didn't - 

_Fuck._

She was never not in his head.

He tried to rationalise it and couldn't. The words, the feelings, were there. Just below the surface. Bubbling, ready to boil over and spill. But he couldn't.

"Fuck this." Cobra growled. Slamming his fist on the table. Standing, and for the fuck knows how many times in the short time he'd been back in Magnolia, he stormed out.


	10. Healers, both.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A plan is in motion, Lucy is getting the help she's asked for, and Cobra is finally starting to open up.

"Mother _fucker_." Angel cursed out loud, loud enough for the rest of Fairy Tail to quiet themselves and stare as she swung out of her seat next to a snoring Midnight. Light and quick, she followed Cobra into the alley way behind the guild. Again.

"What in the fu-" She stopped dead as she realised Cobra was lighting a cigarette. "Dammit, Erik!" She leaned, trying to grab it from him.

He dodged her hand, ducking left and right, dragging in the smoke as she tried and failed to take it from him over and again.

Cobra blew a puff of grey past her face as she gave up with a huff.

"What are you doing?" She scowled at him. Her arms crossing over her belly.

He waved the cigarette in her face by way of reply.

"Not that, you insufferable asshole." Angel sighed. "Running away. Again."

"I'm not running, you dumb bitch." Another drag, smoke billowing from his lips as he watched her through his narrowed eye.

Her eyes narrowed right back. A single silver eyebrow arched, disappearing into her hair.

"The longer he takes, the harder this is."

"What?"

Cobra drank another lung full of smoke. Deeper, taking the time to think. To consider whether he really could put this stupid shit into words. Angel was one of his oldest friends. If he could talk to anyone, it was her, if not Midnight.

He ran his free hand down his face.

"I can't do this, Sorano." The gravel in his voice loosened. And he bit his lip to stop it from quivering. This wasn't the Erik Angel knew. And it certainly wasn't Cobra. "I mean, fuck. Look at me."

So she did. Really did, for the first time in weeks, she paid attention. To the lines in his face. He looked like he hadn't slept in weeks. And she knew his hair was unruly but now it just looked unkempt, wild. 

_Has he lost weight?_

"Probably. I haven't checked." Cobra ground his cigarette out on the wall, his shoulders slumped as he shoved his hands in his pockets and kicked at nothing on the ground.

He looked defeated. Where she saw fire and poison and hatred before, she saw desperation. Clinging on in desperate shreds to the light behind his eyes.

"How?" Angel stuttered. "How did-"

"I _love_ her, Sorano." He kept his voice from cracking. "I love her and I walked away. Over and over, I left her. And now?" His eyes shone with the suggestion of tears.

"But, Leo said she's-"

Sparks ignited in his eyes, flickering.

"Fuck what that asshole _says_. I need to see her. I need to make sure she's okay. But, shit. She's going to hate me." His eyes went blank again. 

"Pfft." Angel crossed her arms again. Contempt brewing in her belly. This wasn't her best friend. This was fear, an ugly parasite feeding from a host who had no idea how to be scared. Not like this. Sure, they had been scared growing up. Afraid for their own lives, for their own wellbeing. Even using one another to make sure they were left alone. They were young and selfish.

Now, Cobra cared about someone else. Lucy wasn't just some means to and end where getting himself off was concerned. He actively sought her out any time they were in Magnolia. He was a totally different person around her, even just around Fairy Tail. She lit him up and fuck, if seeming that light extinguished didn't mess Angel up, nothing else would.

Angel chewed the inside of her cheek, thinking twice about reaching out to him. He looked in need of comforting, but physical contact wasn't the way to do it, and Angel knew that. She rolled her eyes, heaving a breath of indignation.

"Come on." She said to him, turning back to the hall. "We're going to wait for Leo." She started walking and didn't wait for Cobra to follow.

-

Thanks to Mest, Wendy, Gray and Juvia arrived in Margaret Town as the sun was setting. Burnt light glittered off the town's rivers, making the whole place shimmer magically.

"Thank you, Mest." Wendy said as he set her down outside the guild hall, next to Gray and Juvia.

"It's no problem, Wendy. Just glad I can help." He scratched at the back of his neck, nodding to them all before disappearing again.

"Right," Wendy squared herself up, preparing for the huge favour she was about to ask. Her shoulder's shrunk in slightly, "I wish we could have let them know we were coming before hand."

"I know what you mean," Juvia said, falling into step as Wendy made her way to the entrance. "But it will be okay."

"Yeah." Gray muttered, as they stopped outside the big double doors. 

The inside sounding like it was bustling with activity. No where near as loud as Fairy Tail, but loud enough that there was a noticeable difference when they opened the doors and everything stopped.

Seconds ticked past like hours before a flurry of pink threw itself into Wendy's arms.

"Wendy!!" A voice squealed.

"Shellia!" Wendy squealed back.

"Juvia?!" Someone sputtered from close by.

"Lyonne." Gray ground out.

"Gray." Lyonne muttered back.

"What are you doing here?" Yuka materialised from behind Lyonne, breaking up the circle of introductions before Toby felt the need to jump in.

"Well..." Wendy launched into an explanation. Everything from the incident in the Labyrinth to Lucy's recent disappearance, and Mard's involvement. As well as the fact he is still kidnapping magical children, but they didn't know why.

The mage's listened intently, clinging onto every word that left the little dragon slayer's mouth. Shellia didn't let go of her friends arm, gasping when she described how Lucy was beaten to within an inch of her life, squeezing her hand when her breath hitched. By the time Wendy was done, tears had begun streaming down her face.

"I'm in." Shellia said.

"We haven't asked you for anything yet." Gray said to her.

"I know, but I want to help." The pink haired girl grinned up at the ice wizard, his cold eyes thawing for her.

Noise erupted all around them. Older guild members expressing their dislike of Shellia going alone, let alone to another world. Gray argued with Lyonne over whether or not Lamia Scale would even _let_ her go. Juvia was torn between rolling her eyes and fluttering them at Gray.

But before an all out brawl could break out, Yuka stopped everyone. Again.

"The girls." He said, looking around. "They're gone."

-

"Natsu!" Lucy near screamed. "Erza!" She laughed as tears slid down her cheeks, rivulets meeting at her chin and dropping off soundlessly into the grass. She ran at her friends, arms open wide.

She just about managed to sidestep Natsu as he vomited all over the emerald ground, and embraced Erza, briefly but fiercely. She let go and went back to Natsu.

"I'm fine." He wheezed, bent double, hacking wet coughs into the crook of his arm.

Lucy patted his back, trying to be sympathetic while holding back a bubble of laughter that threatened at her throat. Natsu straightened up, wiping his mouth on his sleeve despite both Lucy and Erza looking horrified and disgusted.

"Where is Tinkerbell?" She wondered aloud as a worn out looking Leo sat on a nearby rock.

"At the guild hall with the others." He said, just a little breathlessly.

"Are you okay?" A frown pulled at Lucy's face, she took a step towards him.

"Just a little tired." He smiled at her.

"I'm sorry." Lucy said, "I've asked too much of you."

"I wouldn't do this if I didn't want to, Lucy. You wouldn't let me." Leo grinned at her, winking. "I just need to rest a minute." He slid from the rock to the lush grass below him, yawning.

And before Lucy could blink, the Lion spirit was asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back. I was reading when the idea for this chapter came to me.  
> Thank you all for still sticking with this story. <3  
> Comments and Kudos appreciated forever and always. xo


	11. Torn Apart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cobra is tired, waiting for Leo.  
> Gray and Juvia find the errant sky sisters.

"This is getting ridiculous." Cobra growled, pacing.

Angel tracked him for a few seconds, her eyes and head following as he wore a path in the carpet between the tables. But she shook her head, and growled back at him.

"Sit down. You're making me dizzy." To make her point, she held the sides of her head as she carried on shaking it.

Cobra stopped but didn't sit down. His poison glare trying to burn through to Angel's soul. But even as he narrowed his eye he knew it was futile. She fixed him with a bored stare of her own and he sat down, grumbling.

"I don't know what to tell you, Cobra." Angel sighed as her friend slammed his head onto the table.

He let the cool wood soak up the heat from his face as he blew out an agitated breath. Leo gone to Neverland with the others more than a few hours ago and Cobra was about ready to smash shit up with how impatient he was becoming. Since barging his way out of the guild hall and being coaxed back in by Angel, he'd slammed back several whiskeys, paced and traded barbs with her. It was the only way he could distract himself, trying to remain as normal as possible. Well, whatever passed as normal for them.

Midnight had slept, face down on the bar in a puddle of warm beer, the entire time. Cobra could hear Mirajane getting pissed at not being able to clean around him. Her inner monologue was going a mile a minute while she furiously cleaned glasses and the other surfaces.

 _And I just_ know _his hair is going to reek by the time he wakes up._

Cobra couldn't help huffing a laugh as he listened to her, folding his arms underneath his face to be a little more comfortable.

Soft snores came from his left and Cobra turned his head to see Angel passed out on the table next to him. He couldn't remember the last time any of them had slept properly. It was definitely before they got the call to get to Magnolia.

Thoughts of strawberry scented pillows drifted through his mind as his own eye started to feel heavy, slowly closing.

-

Wendy and Shellia had snuck out of Lamia Scale. It wasn't hard given that everyone was distracted. But it didn't take long for one of the others to track them down.

"I told you an ice cream shop was a bad choice." Shellia laughed as Wendy's sheepish form sunk down into herself.

"Yeah, I know." Wendy sighed, dipping her spoon back into her cherry-vanilla sundae. "I just wanted ice cream."

Shellia laughed again.

Gray and Juvia stepped into the shop, a bell above the door announcing their arrival.

They didn't bother scolding them. Really, they weren't children. They could come and go as they pleased, but it didn't stop people worrying about them.

Back at the guild, Wendy went through what they needed, if Shellia was willing to help.

"-so with our support and healing magic, we'll be really valuable to the destruction of Mard's empire." Wendy grimaced, feeling the full weight of what she was asking of her friend.  
Shellia, who had been listening intently, nodded.

"I will always be willing to help you guys." She told the group from Fairy Tail. "You can count me in." The pink haired girl grinned.

It didn't take them long to get ready to go back to Magnolia. Mest had told them he wouldn't be able to bring them back, though. He'd almost drained all of his power getting them there. He had, however, gotten their train tickets for the return journey.

"It works out well this way." Juvia said as she sat next to the train window.

"How do you figure?" Gray asked, settling next to her. The train stuttered into motion, it's whistle blew, cutting Juvia off before she could reply.

She started again as the noise died and the train was moving smoothly "Leo will be drained from taking the others over. This way, he'll get to rest before taking the girls." She gestured to Wendy and Shellia opposite them.

"I guess." He replied.

Juvia smiled, and turned to face the window. It didn't take long for the girls to fall asleep. Their faces were angelic and serene. A blissful innocence settling over their sleep softened features. They looked young. Very young.

Gray's mouth set in a line. "I hope Lucy knows what she's doing." He muttered.

-

"Wake up!" An overly cheerful voice snapped Cobra out of his dreams and he sat bolt upright, his clawed fingers around the throat of whoever it was.

"Woah!" Leo had one hand up in surrender, the other on Cobra's scaled arm.

"You shouldn't sneak up on him like that." Angel yawned, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"Now you t-tell me." Leo choked, trying to smile his cocky half grin as Cobra snarled inches away from his face, squeezing harder lifting Leo as he did.

"Put him down, Cobra." Angel said, her voice still half asleep and fully bored.

Cobra didn't take his eye off the man as he dropped him. Leo rubbed his throat, and noted the purple hue to Cobra's eye dull back to their normal maroon. The scales on his arm retreated, his claws too, as he visibly calmed down. And though his fangs had also retracted, his mouth was still set in his trademark snarl.

"Let's just go." Cobra bit out, snapping his teeth in Leo's direction as he adjusted his jacket on his shoulders.

\- - - - - - -

Cobra would never get used to the feeling of being torn down to nothing more than his basic genes and being rebuilt from almost scratch. Trains were bad. Boats were worse. But this was a new level entirely. Smashing into the grass, shoulder first so he could roll, he felt his stomach flip. It was went and felled with the motion, and the memory.

Last time, returning to Fairy Tail, he kept his shit together. He moved quickly with Lucy in his arms. Now, nothing stopped him from emptying the contents of his stomach. Rancid whiskey splattered, clinging onto blades of grass. He knew nothing except the burning spray from between his teeth, his whole world was bent into this moment.

And when a hand came to rest between his shoulder blades, he was too exhausted to react. He fell to his side, thankfully knowing to aim himself away from his mess.

His arm flopped over his face, blocking the glaring sun from his eye. He could still feel the presence of whoever was trying to comfort him, his mind still swimming from the crossing, he couldn't pick up who it was. Until the acrid smell cleared from his nostrils, giving way to the faint scent of strawberries, freshwater and sweat.

He sat up and pulled Lucy into him. Holding her there. She was too stunned to do anything at first, but after a second, she relaxed into him. Allowing herself to be enveloped by him, to be comforted by his familiar warmth.

He pulled back, holding her tear stained face in his hands. His eye looking deep into hers.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, his forehead resting on hers, his eye closed.

"You left again." Lucy whispered back, fighting the tears that were so desperate to return.

"I know." Cobra fought, too. He couldn't let his voice crack.

"I didn't think you cared." Lucy lost her battle. The tears came fast. "Every time you left," Lucy pulled herself back to look at him again. "Every time, I-" She bit her lip, wondering whether or not she could carry on, but she pushed through, "-I told myself, never again."

Cobra wrapped his arms around her again. His chin on top of her head. He could hear her, wondering why. Asking herself, and possibly him, how he could do it to her, leave her, over and over, if he cared _this_ much about her. And _why_ he'd come all this way for her. She wanted to hate him again. But she couldn't.

He took a deep, shaky breath. "It's one thing, making the choice to walk away, knowing I could come back. It's something else entirely having you ripped away from me while I'm not even there to stop it from happening." He hated himself, then. Hated that this was what it took to admit how he felt to himself. 

But she was in his arms again. Safe. Whole. Breathing. And he would fight with everything he had, to keep her that way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Picking this back up again now. Sorry I've been missing.  
> I have some actual time to do this now, so I'm excited.  
> Thank you all for reading, and feedback is always appreciated. <3


	12. Reunited

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy's plan is coming together.  
> Old friends are together once more.

Someone cleared their throat. An awkward interruption.

Lucy and Cobra pried themselves apart, neither one wanting to let go for fear it would be the last time, despite how irrational it was. Cobra could taste her panic and feel her terror, and for once it left a foul taste in his throat that he wasn't frothing at the bit to savour. It burned his tongue, turning to ash behind his teeth. He licked his lips, hoping to shift it even slightly. Her hand brushed his, and he found himself gripping it.

Lucy turned, facing Natsu and Erza, not sure who it was who had coughed. But they both looked away trying to appear as though they hadn't been staring. Cobra shifted next to her, letting her hand go so he could get a drink from the water flowing next to them.

Lucy was gearing up, ready to move on when she realised, Leo was gone.

"Where's-" She trailed off, looking around the clearing for the lion spirit.

"He went back for Wendy and the others. They'll be here shortly." Erza told her.

Lucy nodded, looking back at Natsu.

"We'll stay here then." Lucy decided.

Just before Cobra landed, Peter and the Lost Boys decided they would scout ahead. He'd told them they were used to finding traps and spies out in the woods. They still weren't back, so Lucy figured waiting was the best choice. Especially now Cobra was here, he looked just as shitty as Natsu, the two of them needed to recover before they tried to take Mard down.

Lucy settled herself on the grassy bank, next to where Cobra was rinsing his mouth and washing his sweat slicked face. Erza sat to her left, and Natsu the other side of her. Now that they'd stopped, she found the heat of this world's sun to be a little more comfortable. She tipped her head back, letting the dappled light dance on her cheeks. Her shoes were already off, and her feet were in the water, swaying with the lazy current. Metallic clanking next to her signalled Erza's removal of her boots.

Lucy opened an eye to look down to Natsu. He was on his front, hands in the water, chin on the bank. She smiled. Her best friend was so childlike she couldn't help a small sigh. Erza was leaning back, the warm rays on her face too.

Cobra moved next to her, rolling his pant legs up, then setting his coat to one side. His toned leg brushed her lithe one as he sat again. His hands were behind him, savouring the feel of the lush grass beneath his fingers as he leaned on them.

His breath came easier, his heart beat faster, his hearing was dulled and her touch was enough to nearly electrocute him. But he was as relaxed as he could be in that moment. Lucy was okay. Scruffy, blurred around the edges, but okay.

So he was too.

She dropped her head onto his shoulder.

"Thank you." She whispered, "For coming for me."

Cobra didn't respond. He didn't know what to say. But the utter shit storm that was usually her mind and soul had settled to less than a manic carnival. It slowed further still, colours and sounds settling like snow after a storm. She had fallen asleep. The dark circles under her eyes told him she needed it, so he lay back, her head resting in the gap between his collarbone and neck. Her arm snaked over his waist, squeezing slightly as it did.

"She hasn't looked this calm in weeks." Erza observed from the riverbank. Natsu grunted in confirmation. He was still a little green around the edges, despite having got here a good few hours before Cobra.

"Hard not to be calm when you're passed the fuck out, red." Cobra half whispered.

"True." Erza smiled, "But still. Your presence has an effect on her."

Cobra raised an eyebrow, not quite sure if that was positive or negative.

"Don't worry," Erza reassured him, "Lucy told us everything when Natsu stopped throwing up."

Flashes of her memory played in a slide show in his mind.

_"Cobra?" Erza choked on the word. Not necessarily disgusted, but definitely shocked. "How long?"_

_"Since I woke up from my coma?" Lucy smiled sheepishly, rubbing the toe of her boot in the ground._

_Natsu heaved again, bending double._

_"God Natsu!" Lucy pouted. She had really hoped her friends would be happy that she'd found something, some_ one _, that made her happy. If only for brief moments. She definitely didn't think her best friend would react this badly._

_"Sorry, Luce." He shuddered, trying to get a steady breath, "I thought boats were bad."_

_Lucy snorted._

_"Lucy," Erza started, reclaiming the blonde's attention, "if you're happy, that's great. I'm sad you felt the need to hide it from us-"_

_Lucy half shrugged, interrupting, "Well, with everything that's happened, that he did, I just-"_

_Erza held her hand up, "Cobra is not the same person he was then." The thankfully was inferred, "But if he_ ever _does anything to hurt you-"_

_Lucy was smiling to herself. "I don't think he will."_

Cobra tensed then. Preparing himself for an onslaught of remarks about defending Lucy's honour and all the other mental shit swirling around Titania's brain. So he was shocked when she said nothing else. She just smiled contentedly at the blonde curled into his side, then went back to staring across the river.

_She's strong enough to make her own decisions. I trust her judgement. And I've never seen her happier than when he got here._

Cobra smiled then, too.

-

"Cobra?" A musical voice pulled him softly from his slumber.

The blurred lines between sleeping and waking sharpened quickly as he realised he didn't remember falling asleep. He shot up, sitting as he regained his bearings. Noises and emotions filled his head. A rushing river, Lucy's concern. Erza's authoritative voice. Natsu. Another dragon slayer. _Wendy._ Pink. Unrequited love. Brooding emo-y-ness.

He shook his head, pressing his palm to his eye. It was a little overwhelming. But he'd dealt with worse.

"Wendy, Shellia, Gray and Juvia are here. With Tinkerbell." Lucy told him, taking his hand again as he stood. His head cleared as soon as she touched him. Everything about him hyper-focused on that point. Her steady pulse beating against his skin. Her soft fingers against his rough ones. He rubbed his thumb along the inside of her wrist, feeling he pulse quicken as he did. A smug smirk threatened at the side of his mouth as he heard her breath hitch ever so slightly, but was careful not to let his mouth crack fully into a manic grin.  
Everyone was catching up, drinking from the river to soothe their tumultuous stomachs when Peter and the Lost Boys returned.

"Tink!" Peter exclaimed as he broke through the treeline, bursting into a run as she turned to see him. All the boys charged her at full speed and they crashed to the ground with laughter and tears.

Lucy couldn't hold her own tears back and she witnessed their reunion. Though it had only been a day or so, they looked as if it had been a lifetime.

Picking each other up, Peter clung to Tink's arm, vowing to never lose her again. She shrugged him off with a roll of her eyes.

"Lucy?" Peter said, bringing the fairy over to her. "This is Tinkerbell." He gestured to the young woman. She was unreal in her beauty. Glowing as though she had been lit from within, her hair falling in golden cascades around her shoulders. And her eyes, the green rivalled only by the leaves in the trees overhead.

"I'm so happy to meet you," Lucy beamed, pulling Tinkerbell in for a hug. A tap on her shoulder had her pulling away.

"Lucy," Leo looked exhausted. "If there's nothing else I can do? I need to go back to the spirit world and recharge."

"Oh Leo!" Lucy went to him, hugging him hard. "Thank you so so much."

"Any time, princess." Leo winked as Lucy hit the air where he'd been moments before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have done absolutely nothing with my week off. I'm not sorry.  
> I was meant to be doing my CV but... Here I am instead.  
> Feedback is appreciated, as are Kudos. Thank you all so much for sticking around for this. I love you all.


	13. Ice Make Slide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shellia is taken by a mystery kidnapper.

Lucy clapped her hands together, if she didn't get the ball rolling, she'd lose her nerve.

"Okay!" She announced, everyone gathering to listen to the plan. "So we know that Mard Geer is taking children, replacing magical children from Earthland with changelings to infiltrate powerful families within the wizarding community." Everyone's anger was rising. None of them, bar maybe Cobra, could fathom such evil. Cobra himself had never kidnapped children, but he had been used as a child slave. He kept his gaze and his temper level, this was the last place he needed to lose his shit.

"What we don't know is why." Erza finished, frowning.

"So," Lucy continued, "We need to infiltrate his base, here in Neverland."

"Which is where I come in?" Shellia asked, raising her hand.

"Exactly," Lucy nodded.

-

Leaves rustled underfoot, whispering angrily at one another as the group moved as quietly as possible through the dense woodland. The only other sounds were a symphony of breaths, out of sync as this orchestra tried to keep up with the boy in green.

"The closer we get," Peter murmured to the others behind him, "the quieter we need to be." He ducked, moving a low branch for the others as they came to a clearing at the edge of a cliff. One by one they slipped through the leaves, finding spots low on the ground to wait for the signal.

Lucy looked out, over the harbour that was spread out below them.

"Gray?" She whispered, a grunt to her left let her know he was there, and listening, Juvia too. A callused hand on her shoulder let her know Cobra was there too. Erza was ahead of her, and Peter and his boys had already headed back to set up the distraction with Natsu.

Lucy bit her lip, nervous. Wendy and Shellia were barely teenagers. The reality of what she had asked them to do was finally settling in, biting like the dry grass beneath her knees. She didn't notice she was wringing her hands together until a bigger one quietly closed over them.

Cobra's face was lined with worry. Lucy smiled, silently showing him _I'm fine._

His lip twitched in response, and he mouthed ' _Okay, and I'm Gran Doma._

Lucy fought to keep from laughing, looking away from the distraction. If they carried on, they'd surely give themselves away.

The light was dying slowly as the afternoon gave way to evening, the sky looked like a painting. Clouds were splattered in orange and violet. It would have been beautiful, had they been anywhere else, for any other reason. But the pink and the deepening indigo just served to remind them all of who they were waiting for. They hadn't been there long, but it had felt like hours, silence bleeding between them like a wound that refused to heal.

To pass time, Lucy started making a chain from the drying flowers scattered around her. She was splitting a stem when

_A crack resounded in Lucy's skull as she was punched, knuckles glancing off her cheekbone. Cold stone floor came up to meet her, her hands snapped out before she broke her nose._

Lucy recoiled, landing hard on her back next to Cobra.

' _What the hell?_ ' Cobra mouthed at her.

"I got dizzy." She hissed through gritted teeth as he helped her back up. He made a face, he didn't believe her, but they were interrupted before he could call bullshit.

"I can see them." Erza breathed from behind her binoculars. She was pointed East, towards a row of smaller vessels, also owned by Mard. "Natsu is grinning like a mad man." She hissed. 

Lucy rolled her eyes. _Of course he is, the freakin' pyro._ She heard Cobra snort behind her.

"I have eyes on the girls." Juvia whispered loudly. "Wendy has left Shellia. They're about forty feet from the _Jolly Roger._ "

Lucy's eyebrow's knitted together. Now, all they could do was wait for the signal.

-

Shellia was cold. Despite the fact that this world was unbelievably warm, it seemed that as soon as the sun was gone, so was it's unrelenting heat. It didn't help that Wendy had torn her clothes to shreds and basically hurled mud at her from the riverbank. She shivered and realised how badly she smelled.

Workers and passengers obviously backed away from her as she made her way down the jetty. The _Jolly Roger_ was in sight, all she had to do was make herself look as small and vulnerable as possible. Arms wrapped around herself, she continued.

A few of the sailors looked at her like she was nothing more than a slab of meat, though none of them exuded evil or malice. But, the closer she got to that grinning skull flag, the deeper the pit in her stomach became. The aura of the ship was wrong. So devastatingly awful, she wanted to run. But it also sang to her, she was both drawn to and repulsed by it. She was so entranced by the feeling, she didn't notice the hands until they grabbed her.

One around her waist, the other on her mouth and nose. She couldn't scream, but she kicked. A couple landed on the perpetrator's shins, causing him to grunt. He gripped tighter, cutting her air off entirely. While she had been acting, she panicked, kicking harder, trying to pull at his arm. She had to be careful, she could get out of this, she could feel that she was stronger, but she needed to be where he was going. Gas leaked between the gaps in her captors fingers.

Her entire world was sulfur. Rotten and sweet at the same time. Her hands felt heavy and awkward, and the fell away, dropping at her sides. Her legs buckled, and strong arms hauled her up as though she were no more than a sleeping babe. The edges of her vision blurred black until all she saw was that skull, laughing at her.

-

"They have her." Juvia said, trying to tamp down the panic in her voice. Her binoculars were still pointed at Wendy at the edge of the harbour, waving as though to a friend, apologising as confused passers by thought she was waving at them. She kept watch, making sure she was headed to Natsu's group.

They waited, breaths held collectively. Wendy was already known to Mard and some of his sentinels. If she was caught, their plan would blow up in their faces. Seconds ticked over into minutes, their silence broken only by the occasional chirp of a cricket.

"Wendy is with Natsu." Erza breathed out, her relief lifting a weight from everyone's shoulders. "Natsu is heading towards the _Jolly Roger_. Let's get going."

Lucy was still reeling over the memory that had assaulted her, but she was up and heading towards the steep path on the cliff face.

Before she knew it, they were down, skating across Gray's ice towards the cherry wood ship. Erza and Juvia right behind Gray, then Cobra and Lucy in the back.

Lucy kept her eyes on the sky as the slid closer to their goal, distracting herself and praying to everything she could imagine. Stars blinked awake overhead, stretching all the way out over the horizon where clouds kissed the ocean. She followed the glittering path the laid out back down towards the _Jolly Roger_ as they skidded to a stop on it's starboard side.

-

_"He kept us on the right side, under the main deck. Each cabin had a port hole. Barred to keep the smaller ones from escaping." Peter explained when Lucy asked what he remembered from his time on board Mard's ship._

_"Yeah," Slightly nodded, "When it's docked, it'll face east. So you'd have to approach ocean side."_

_"That won't be a problem." Gray reassured them all._

_"Okay." Peter said, "While they're docked, Mard is usually in his cabin, so you don't have to worry about him seeing you. But some crew will probably be preparing the ship for cast off."_

_Lucy and Erza both frowned._

-

"There!" Lucy gasped, pointing up.

Pink hair poked through the bars in a port hole directly below the main deck on the bow end of the hull. Gray was pulling himself up with an ice ladder as a crowd cheered from the port side.

"Natsu's distraction worked then." Lucy grunted as she heaved herself up the frozen rungs.

"Apparently." Cobra muttered from below her. "I can't believe he came up with that idea."

Honestly, as smart as she knew her best friend could be, Lucy couldn't either. He'd suggested putting on a fire eating show before they set off from the cliff face. When told he was very recognisable, he shrugged and said he'd wear a mask and a cloak.

"How hard can it be?" He'd grinned.

The clapping died down as Gray used his ice to break the bars.

Work had resumed by the time Cobra, very ungracefully, fell into Shellia's very small cabin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah man, I love how this is coming together.  
> Thank you all for STILL sticking around for this. Honestly, it warms my shrivelled little heart and soul.  
> Feedback is always appreciated <3


	14. Freakin' Pyro

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy's plan is coming to a head. Sneaking around the Jolly Roger with the hope of figuring out what's going on. But she's not going to like what she finds.

Cobra stood, steadying himself as he waited for the sickness to settle in. Wendy had performed the Troia spell on him not long before they split up, but he hadn't expected it to work. She told him it wouldn't last though, a few hours at most. Meaning they had to get off this ship with in the next hour, or the others would have to carry him. He shrugged out of his coat, handing it to Lucy to put around a barely dressed Shellia.

Heavy footfalls resounded through the wooden beams above them. Natsu's performance must have finished, meaning they had a few minutes before Gray could send the next signal.

Lucy wrapped Cobra's jacket around the shivering Shellia and helped her stand up.

"You okay?" Lucy's voice was laced with a deep concern. She hated that she'd asked Shellia and Wendy to both be a part of this, but she knew it was the only way in a such a short space of time. Shellia nodded, her teeth chattering as she grounded herself.

"I can hear Natsu." Cobra said, his head cocked so he could hear better, "He's back with Peter."

"Okay," Lucy braced herself. This was going to be the hardest part. Infiltrating Mard's cabin, getting as much information as possible, getting any and all prisoners off this ship and back to Fairy Tail. "Cobra, take Gray and get who you can from the port side." They both nodded, ducking out of the room as soon as Gray busted the door open. "Erza you take the starboard side."

"Yes ma'am." Erza saluted as she raced out of the room behind the boys.

"Juvia, you take Shellia back to the others." Lucy instructed, trying to sound more confident than she felt. Juvia nodded, guiding the young girl from the room.

-

Lucy had been creeping down the dark wooden passageway for a few minutes. She looked at the time device on her wrist, she still had three minutes. If her and Gray had set them right. She didn't quite understand the technology that Virgo had given them before they set off that afternoon.

_"Here you go, Princess." Virgo popped up from nowhere, making Lucy yelp. She scowled at Gray, who snorted trying to conceal a laugh._

_"Don't do that, Virgo." Lucy half heartedly scolded._

_Virgo tilted her head in that innocent way, "I'm sorry. Punishment, Princess?"_

_Cobra snorted that time. Water from his stop at the river spraying out of his nose. It dripped down his chin as he tried to stop himself choking._

_"Umm, no. Thanks. What did you bring me?" Lucy changed the subject as quickly as possible._

_"Bracelets. They have timers built in," She held up two plain black straps, both with numbers glowing in their displays. "Big Brother told me about your plan, and said these would be perfect."_

_"Wow. They are," Lucy took them, turning one over in her hand, "thank you!" Lucy grinned at her spirit. "Tell Leo I said thank you too."_

_"I will," Virgo said, then bowed to Lucy, her shackles rattling, "If there's nothing else, Princess?"_

_"No, thank you again." Lucy said, smiling as Virgo vanished with a poof._

Damp oak and alcohol soaked the air around her, making her a little dizzy. Footsteps were still bouncing from the beams above her, and the ship was swaying with the tide. _I understand why this makes Natsu and the others feel so ill._ She thought as she clutched her tummy as a wave of nausea washed over her.

A door ahead of her was open, ever so slightly. A glowing rectangle of light right in front of her. She'd been heading towards the stern, so this had to be Mard's office.

She pressed herself against the cold, solid wooden wall, hoping she was concealed by the shadows.

The device on her wrist buzzed.

"Ten seconds." She whispered to herself, watching the numbers count down.

_  
3  
2  
1  
_

She braced herself, hands trying to find purchase on the smooth wall behind her.

A blast rocked the whole boat. Screams rang in Lucy's ears from outside, along with a high pitched screech that she couldn't quite shake. Another wave of sickness rolled though her as the boat was went and felled with the aftershock of the explosion.

Shouts came from above her, the sound of debris hitting the ocean came from the side, and the ringing still came from inside her head. She pressed her palm to her ear, leaning forward to hopefully supress how violently ill she suddenly felt, but quickly pressed herself back into the shadows when the door of the cabin swung open.

Mard stepped out, beautiful, devastating Mard Geer. Lucy couldn't help but admire how good he looked. His dark velvet doublet jacket was exquisitely tailored, showing off his powerful upper body. He'd ditched the stereotypical tricorn hat for his standard pony tail, but loose strands framed his elven features. Lit from behind, he had an ethereal glow about him. Lucy tore her gaze away from his face, watching as he started down the passageway to his left.

His steps were purposeful as he strode towards the commotion. Lucy edged to the end of the hallway, silently watching as he ascended the steps to the main deck.  
"What in the name of -" His words cut off as the door slammed behind him.

Lucy released a breath she didn't realise she'd been holding, and quickly slid into the cabin, being careful as to not shut the door behind her. That way she would hear anyone coming back.

The commotion was insane. Lucy could see the fires from the window of Mard's office.

"You really are a freakin' pyro, Natsu." She whispered under her breath. She couldn't stop and marvel at the destruction for too long. She was on a time limit and needed to get Mard's plans. She turned to his desk.

Papers littered the whole polished mahogany surface. A weathered brass sextant held most of them down, while sea worn rocks held the rest.

Lucy already had an idea of what he was doing. But the papers confirmed her fears.

"He's taking kids to turn them into demons." She scoffed, disgusted. The changelings left with the families would mimic the children's powers based on information Mard gave them, then when the real child was old enough, they'd be returned. No one any the wiser.

They were all from families with real pull in the upper circles of Fiore society. Politicians, merchants, lower noble families. Their plan was to convert them all to being followers of Zeref.

"This is vile." Lucy fought as tears clawed their way into her eyes. She kept looking through the papers, hoping the still raging flames were enough of a distraction for just a couple more minutes.

-

There had been a lot fewer children on board than Cobra had been expecting. Twin boys, aged about five, belonging to some Duke and Duchess from close to Crocus. And a sullen 9 year old girl who's mother had married rich. 

"Come on, Lucy." Gray growled from next to Cobra.

They'd been off the boat since just after the explosion, hitting the water right as heat blasted over them. Thankfully, Juvia had been waiting underneath with an air pocket. Now, they waited on the docks, hidden behind a stack of empty wine barrels.

Cobra was silently willing for her to hurry too. With all the commotion, his magic was overwhelmed. He couldn't pinpoint her soul.

"You all need to go." Cobra instructed.

"But what about-"

He cut Erza off, "I'll wait for her. If she isn't out in the next few minutes, I'm going back in. But you need to get these kids back."

Erza stared at him, then nodded sagely. "Okay." She ushered the children from behind the booze soaked barrels. And he watched as they took off towards where Natsu was waiting with Peter and his Lost Boys at there hide out.

He turned back towards the ship, ignoring the pit in his stomach.

After 5 minutes, he couldn't take it. And he ran for the boat, pushing the gawking onlookers out of his way.

-

Lucy couldn't get rid of the sickness she felt. But now she didn't know if it was everything she was learning or the fact the boat was still rocking.

Another bout of queasiness sank through her, she covered her mouth as she suppressed what she hoped was a belch.

The ringing in her ears had given way to an almost deafening roar. So she didn't hear the door open behind her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait. I've been working on one of my other fics. (Kids At Night in care you're interested)  
> This one is finally going somewhere. WEW.  
> Comments and Kudos forever loved and appreciated, I love knowing what you all like and don't like. Helps me be a better writer :P  
> <3


	15. Pain. Panic.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cobra goes back for Lucy.

She jumped when an oil slick voice purred in her ear. It slid around her neck in a sickening noose, choking her. She was held in place by it, dangling by it. Holding herself together by it. She tried to swallow, and couldn't.

"Hello again, Lucy."

Now she was going to be sick, she turned to face him. She backed up, skirting around the smooth desk. He crossed towards her, following her to the wall she had stupidly pressed herself against. She was trapped. His arms either side of her. Their breath mingled between them.

-

Cobra was running, his boots pounding against the nearly rotten wood of the jetty. Waves rolled and chopped at the edges, setting his stomach roiling again. He gritted his teeth, baring down against the nausea swelling in his gut. He pushed himself, running harder, faster.

The chaos had settled around them, the flames that had been licking the night sky only minutes previously, were being doused. The boats Natsu had blown up, now little more than embers, glowing in their berths. Smoke was rising in dense clouds that fully obscured the stars Lucy loved so much.

Screaming and trampling gave way to a silence Cobra could taste. Blind panic dulled to confusion and trepidation radiated from everyone in the vicinity. People who had ran, screaming the moment the smaller vessels had been immolated, had stopped. Sating their morbid curiosity, standing around, mouths agape as others fought to quash the flames.  
Internal choruses of _why?_ 's and _how?_ 's echoed around him.

He listened until he couldn't. Silence floated in the air around him, in his head. Static filled the void between his ears. He shook his head, looking at the ship in front of him as fear and pain exploded through his mind.

He stumbled. He couldn't fall. He wanted to, wanted to sink to his knees and scream. He ran up the gangplank, straight on to the main deck of the _Jolly Roger_. His knees buckled again, but he clamped down on the sickness trying it's hardest to win the war in his belly. A door creaked on its hinges, he looked over at the door that lead to the captains quarters.

He ran, so fast down the stairs it was like he flew, he didn't notice if he ever touched a step before he hit the bottom. His hand grazed the wall, steadying him briefly before he barrelled down towards Mard's cabin.

Every breath, coming faster and faster as he got closer, burned his lungs. He slammed the door open, the scene in front of him making him both want to vomit and kill someone.  
"Mard." Her voice was barely there, her eyes wide, mouth open. Blood drained from her face. Memories assaulted her. Ghost punches landing on her chin, phantom kicks to her ribs. Blood. Spit. Fear, rage, broken bones, bloody teeth. The raw panic as she remembered what it was like to bite clean through her own tongue.

_Her head hit the floor with a crunch. She stared up, every inch of her screaming in agony. The metallic tang of her own blood singeing her nose, coating her tongue. She looked up into Mard's face, and smiled her teeth crimson and sticky. He pulled her up by her hair, the ends stained and muddy. Her smile didn't falter as spat in his face. Blood and saliva slid down his face, off his chin, landing between them._

Everything was white noise.

A sob stole through her throat and she fell to her knees.

Everything she had held back, everything her brain made her forget, tore her to pieces. It hurt more than travelling to these worlds, because this time she couldn't feel herself coming back together.

Cobra growled, low and feral. His fangs elongated, nearly piercing through his tongue. His dragon instinct was taking over, too fast for him to comprehend until his scaled hand had a laughing Mard Geer by the throat, his claws poised directly over his pulsing jugular.

His vision had narrowed, focusing solely on Mard's sneering face and choking laughter.

Cobra squeezed, snarling. He bared his teeth, red smoke seeping through the gaps.

"Erik!" Lucy's strangled cry broke through the red mist clouding his brain. He blinked, his pupil dilating back to normal size, and looked at her. She was shivering, despite the heat, broken sobs bubbled through her lips. Her eyes were red and puffy. Her cheeks were damp with the tears that had now pooled on the hard wood beneath her. Cobra didn't let go, but the claws where his nails were supposed to be, receded.

She was still on the floor, begging him with her swollen eyes.

_We need him, Cobra._

She was right. But that didn't mean he had to be nice to the prick. The fact she collapsed again fuelled his hatred, he snarled. His anger and frustration causing his claws to slide back into place.

The last thing Mard Geer saw before he passed out, was Cobra's smirk. That red vapour rose to meet him, sinking into every pore, stuffing itself up his nose, in his mouth, filling his lungs. His skin and eyes burned with an intensity that made him want to strip his skin from his bones, and then his world was black.

-

"How long are they going to be?" Natsu whined, flopping down onto the floor of the treehouse. Natsu, Peter and the Lost Boys got back after lighting the fuses. Natsu stopped very briefly to admire his handiwork before they bolted. But that had been hours ago. The sun would be up soon.

"How long is a piece of string?" Erza quizzed. Natsu stared at her, his gormless expression causing her to elaborate. She pinched the bridge of her nose, and sighed. "We don't know, Natsu."

"What does string have to do with it?" Natsu still looked confused.

Gray scoffed. He was sat, shirtless, against the opposite wall, bandages covering a nasty scrape he got when getting away from one of Mard's henchmen with the young girl he'd rescued. He'd shoved her away, using his ice lance to take out the man pursuing them. But he'd over estimated the force he'd used, pushing himself to the floor. His ribs made contact with the worn floor of the ship, cutting him up pretty bad.

Natsu stood again, Gray followed suit, trying not to wince as he hauled himself up. They were squaring up to each other. Erza shook her head, some things would never change.  
"What's that, popsicle dick?" Natsu snarled, pressing his head against Gray's.

"Nothing, you flaming moron!" Gray yelled back.

"Boys," Erza warned.

Peter and the Lost Boys stared at the altercation. Wendy and Shellia were both helping Slightly and Nibs, who had been burned in the explosion. Nothing serious, but they figured it was best to have everyone at full strength.

The children they had rescued had fallen asleep, and now rested in hammocks on the upper floor of the treehouse.

"Gray," Juvia said softly from behind him, "Maybe you should ca-" Before she could finish her thought, the door flew open, banging on the wall next to it with a dull thud.  
Cobra's form filled the doorway. A body in his arms, another slung over his shoulders.

"Take her." He said. He was way too calm. Erza saw pure, unfiltered malice in his eye.

Natsu moved quickly, taking a way too pale and unconscious Lucy from his arms. A whimper snuck out of his mouth, but he clamped his lips shut and got her onto a makeshift bed near Wendy and Shellia.

Wendy finished Slightly's bandage, and shuffled to Lucy, splaying her hands to assess the damage done to her friend.

"She's not injured?" Wendy looked up, confused.

Cobra dumped the other body in the corner. It's hands and legs bound, a gag covering the lower half of their face.

"No." He sighed. "She remembered everything." Cobra refused to look at anyone. But he did grit his teeth and slammed his boot into the ribs of the body on the floor at his feet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this is a really dense chapter? Like, not necessarily long, but packed? Idk. Editing it was hard.
> 
> Sorry for the slow update, I'm back in work. I'm working on my own book. I have a 2 year old. Life is hard.
> 
> Thank you though. For still sticking with this.
> 
> <3


	16. Patience.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang take a minute to get themselves together after a heavy night.

"Cobra!" Erza admonished, crossing the room to put a tentative arm on his, hoping to hold him back. He hesitated before turning to her.

"What?" He growled back. "It's this fuck weasel's fault." He shook Erza off, turning back to plant another solid kick in the body's side.

Everyone's eyes snapped to the body again. It was Mard. His eyes were blackened, his skin raw, but yes. That was him. Wendy and Shellia visibly shuddered, Juvia and Gray were slackjawed and wide eyed where they stood, still stock still from the brewing fight.

Natsu's skin rippled, his jaw tightened. It took every ounce of his self control not to crash over and burn the fucker until there was nothing but rotten ash left.

"Why isn't he dead?" Natsu bit out through gritted teeth, his fists clenched at his side.

Cobra had stopped beating Mard's unmoving body, he sighed scrubbing a callused hand down his face, smearing soot and grime across his cheeks.

"Lucy needs him alive." Cobra couldn't have sounded less happy about that if he tried. And he wasn't trying. He _hated_ that they needed him alive. But they couldn't put and end to absolutely everything without him.

Natsu spun, suddenly remembering Lucy was there. He sat on the floor, legs crossed, her head in his lap. He'd never seen her so broken. Even when she'd been brought back from The Labyrinth, Porlyusica had fixed her up so quickly, and she'd had no memory of what happened. Her face had been angelic, peaceful. Now, she looked like something in her head had snapped. Even though she was unconscious, her face was twisted. Set in a memory. Tears had stained clear pathways in her ash covered face. Her eyes were puffy and her lips were chapped.

"I can't help her." Wendy whispered to him. Her voice hitched, she was trying not to cry. All Wendy could do, was help her regain her physical strength. Shellia could help with closing the few cuts she had on her hands, a bruise on her knee. But beyond that, "I'm useless." Wendy told him, in a small voice that made his heart hurt. Tears spilled over her eyes, sliding down her chin.

"You're not useless." Natsu reassured her. He sighed, deflating. He felt helpless. He should have been there. He shouldn't have let her go alone. Would it have made a difference? Being there?

Wendy reached over, putting her hand over his where it rested on Lucy's collarbone. Natsu looked up and she offered him a small, sad smile.

A shadow crossed over them. Natsu looked up, straight into Cobra's eye. The poison dragon slayer inclined his head, as if to say _"I've got her from here."_ Natsu nodded, shuffling so Lucy's head didn't drop to the packed dirt floor.

Cobra leaned against the inner bark of the tree, his legs stretching out in front of him. Lucy's head was in his lap now, his rough hands running lightly through her hair, detangling what knots he could with his fingers. His coat was over her, because her clothes weren't exactly practical combat wear.

It didn't take long for the others to fall asleep. Natsu dropped near the door. Wendy and Shellia had followed Peter and his Boys up to the hammocks. Gray and Juvia were curled next to what would be the fire place if Peter wasn't so paranoid about Mard seeing the smoke.

Cobra had a hard time. He was in a new place, with people he didn't know. Mard was still in an unconscious ball in the far corner. Cobra had pumped him full of valerian root, but even he couldn't say how long that would keep him out.

Erza was the last to give in to sleep.

"You can relax, you know." She'd said to Cobra, her voice just above a whisper. She was against the wall opposite him. Their boots nearly touching. It was quiet aside from a few chirps from outside.

"It's too bright to sleep." Cobra grumbled. Which, wasn't a lie. The sun had been up for a couple of hours. It was still low enough in the sky for it's heat and light to spill heavily through the windows, crudely stamped out of the tree bark.

"You must be exhausted, though?" She barely supressed a yawn. Cobra raised an eyebrow, giving her a look that called her a hypocrite.

"Look, Titania. I'm not going to be able to sleep. No matter what. So you're welcome to crash out while I keep watch." He stretched, being careful not to jostle Lucy.

She looked at him, wanting to argue, wanting to say something like _"You've done enough for us, for her."_ But she didn't. For once, she allowed herself to be selfish. She nodded a thanks at Cobra. Crossed her arms over her armoured chest. Once her eyes were closed, she swam, slowly, through the treacle thick darkness behind them, savouring how relaxed she felt. She broke through the surface of the honey slick waves of her dreams, walking golden sands towards the blue hair that waited for her.

-

Cobra's eye never left Mard. He couldn't afford to. Losing him now would mean that everything they'd gone through, everything _Lucy_ had gone through, was worthless. He was all too aware the only reason he got the drop on him was because Mard was distracted. None of them would get that opportunity again.

He watched each shallow breath. Every subdued twitch. Cobra was patient. He'd waited long enough to get out of that prison. He was still waiting for Cuebellios. A few hours waiting for everyone to wake up was nothing. Birds still chirped happily outside. Frogs provided the melody to the river's song. It was a symphony Cobra would never tire of hearing. Nature at it's most raw. The sun moved higher, casting shorter shadows that meant it was a little after midday. He figured the others would wake soon.

He didn't have to wait long. Gray woke first, which stirred Juvia. They went to the river, bringing back a couple buckets of fresh water. Natsu was next, sleepily rubbing his bleary eyes with the back of his hand.

"Happy?" He yawned. Cobra saw the boy's heart break behind his eyes as he woke fully from his dream state and realised his little blue friend wasn't here.

Soon, the treehouse was bustling with the sounds of people waking. Faces being washed, people talking about food, people just talking. A door opened, someone said they'd be back.

Erza woke last, apart from Mard and Lucy. They were still blissfully unaware of the carnage that counted as breakfast in this tree house.

"Is it even breakfast if we're having it in the middle of the day?" Erza questioned as Peter brought in a tray of dry cured meats.

Gray turned his nose up, Juvia also looked unimpressed. But, Cobra didn't question when he was offered. He'd more than likely eaten worse than whatever this meat once belonged to. He couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten, so it all tasted like it had been crafted from his dreams, regardless of what it might have been.

Seeing Cobra eat it with no issues, the others took some.

It was quiet except for the chewing when Mard stirred.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates are still slow as hell. I'm super sorry. Work is manic. I've had some shitty news regarding my health (nothing major, just nothing I wanted to hear, you know?)  
> But yeah, I've not been myself these past few days. I'm sorry if that reflects in this chapter, I tried to keep my feelings separate.  
> Feedback is, as always, massively appreciated <3


	17. Insciente Vinctum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy is damaged more than her friends realise. Memories resurface, causing unfathomable damage.

Cobra's stare turned instantly to the corner of the room. Lucy was still out cold on him, he couldn't do anything without dropping her.

Manic, muffled laughter came from the corner. Wild eyes darted in their blackened sockets as Mard took in his surroundings. His hands writhed, trying to break free of their tight bounds. Cobra had used silk scarves he'd found in Mard's desk, it wouldn't take him too long to get out of them, despite the fact his movements were rigid. Not shocking considering Cobra definitely broke at least one of his ribs.

"Leo, now would be a really good time for you to pop up unannounced." Cobra said out loud. He didn't believe in miracles. How could he? He'd stopped bothering to wish or pray for one when he was 8 years old.

But when the Lion spirit appeared in his warm golden glow in the middle of the room, Cobra was about ready to devote his life to worshipping the Celestial Spirit King.

"Get him back to Fairy Tail. Get him in anti magic shackles." Cobra instructed Leo. The spirit hesitated, his eyes dropping sadly to Lucy. "Now, Leo!" Cobra turned to Natsu, "Take her," He gently lifted Lucy's head, then scooped her up under her knees, "We all need to get back to Fairy Tail." Cobra's movements were less than his usual liquid grace when handing Lucy to Natsu, he couldn't find it in himself to want to let go.

The deranged laughter died along with Leo's portal light. Everyone that was left visibly relaxed. There was no telling how long Leo would be, but Lucy and Natsu would be the ones going next. Then Wendy and Shellia.

-

Minutes ticked by, turning to hours. Night fell again and Lucy still wasn't stirring, everyone was anxious. Wendy's brow furrowed in concern. There was nothing she or Shellia could do. They couldn't even tell any of them exactly what was wrong with her. Just that she'd shut down.

Peter whispered quietly to Tink, telling her about everything that had happened while she was gone. Erza went out to get wood for the now functioning fire.

They were all about ready to drop again by the time Leo returned. He took Lucy, holding her close, promising to get her straight to Porlyusica. Natsu didn't even complain, he knew it was the best option, given that he would definitely empty the sparse contents of his stomach on the other side.

When they'd left, Cobra found himself frantic. He picked at his nails. Chewed his tongue. He couldn't rest. He knew he should but not knowing if Lucy was okay was making him spiral. He sat, letting the white noise of everyone else's distracted chatter wash over him.

Despite feeling so anxious, he must have fallen asleep. Before he knew it, sun filtered in, draping a warm curtain over his shivering body. His eye opened. It was still dark outside the window. Stars twinkled in the sky.

Someone stood over him, blocking the winking lights.

"Leo?" His throat felt like he'd swallowed gravel.

-

It was three days before Lucy opened her eyes. 

Cobra was gone. Again.

Natsu told her he'd said it was because he didn't want to hurt her anymore, that seeing him might bring back more crippling memories.

Lucy nodded. Turning back over, hiding under her covers. She waited until she heard Natsu leave, and she cried. Her whole body was wracked with deep sobs. She didn't want to think of why it hurt her so much that he had left her, _again_. She didn't want to remember his arms around her. His lips on hers. The menthol smoke and burning cloves smell of him. But she did.

She cried until she couldn't. Until her throat was raw and her eyes stung. She fell into a dreamless, fitful sleep.

Waking, she decided she couldn't stay in bed.

But as she stood, putting her feet in the lush slippers someone had left for her, her mind was assaulted again.

Mard Geer's cackling face came from inside her own mind.

_A crack resounded in Lucy's skull as she was punched, knuckles glancing off her cheekbone. Cold stone floor came up to meet her, her hands snapped out before she broke her nose._

_A sharp pain bloomed in her ribs as she was kicked, forcing her to roll over and cough. His boot met her chin, and she bit down, hard, on her tongue. Spitting blood, she tried to get up, but Mard grabbed her face._

_"Why can't you just play along?" He punched her again._

"I PLAYED YOUR GAME!" Lucy screamed. 

Natsu burst in, he couldn't see her. Her screams threatened to burst his sensitive ears. She was hunched, cowering on the floor. 

"Luce!" He shouted, putting an arm over her. She jumped, her eyes wild, blinded by the memories crashing around inside her. She punched Natsu, square in the jaw.  
He didn't even flinch. She kept going.

"No! No no no!" Lucy was thrashing, she smashed her shin into the metal bed frame. 

Gajeel was next in the door. His face set, grim at the prospect of restraining Lucy. It hurt him. Seeing her like this. Mard broke more than a few of her bones that day.

-

Lucy was sedated for a week.

Jellal and the rest of Crime Sorciere returned for Mard. Cobra waited in the woods, lest he face the Fairies wrath. He was a coward and he knew it. He knew what Lucy was going through, heard her drug addled dreams. He winced every time she replayed Mard kicking her in the face, tasted the tang of blood on his tongue as though he'd bitten his own.  
He thought about going there. But what would he say? Sorry wouldn't acquit him of his crimes. A life of repentance at her feet would never be enough. Even if she forgave him, he wouldn't forgive himself.

The smell of burned sugar drifted up his nostrils, and he growled low as his team broke through the treeline. A hooded figure in shackles was hunched between them.  
Cobra growled. It was not a low, subdued sound. He did not make the effort to mask it. And it was not a noise he made consciously. His teeth bared, fangs descended. It took every ounce of self control he had ever learned not to pounce on Mard Geer.

They needed him alive and coherent.

The second Mard Geer was no longer useful, Cobra would make that asshole feel every shred of fear and pain that Lucy did at his hands, and more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am drawing this chronicle to a close. Not here. Because that would be cruel.  
> I will finish this story. Then the BixLu short.  
> And I have an epilogue.  
> I hope you're all still enjoying this <3  
> Let me know in the comments :D


	18. Beatitudinem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isolation is a funny thing.

Cobra had enough. Of beating himself up, it wasn't enough. It wouldn't be enough even if someone else beat him up, but he figured it wouldn't hurt if they did.

Too bad he'd fucked off the second they left Fairy Tail all that time ago. He'd done what he needed to. Mard was gone. And he needed to be, too.

"You can't just run away, Erik!" Angel scolded him.

"Fucking watch me." He'd retorted, walking away, his middle finger raised in a salute goodbye to his past. A cigarette hung from his lips, acrid smoke burning bridges as he breathed in, his ties to Fairy Tail blowing away like ash in the wind as he exhaled.

-

Despite the fact Cobra had avoided Magnolia like the fucking plague, Erza still managed to track him down. She burst into the encampment he'd built himself in the middle of butt fuck nowhere, in a forest on the outskirts of some barely there town in northern Fiore.

She tumbled through the underbrush, taking him by surprise as she wrapped an armoured arm around his neck, her other elbow pressed into the back of his skull.

"Shit, Titania!" He yelled, grass and rocks biting into his knees while holding his hands up in surrender, she dug her elbow in harder. "Shit, okay! Yield!" A bone in his neck popped, "Let go!" He growled.

And she did.

Then promptly smashed him full force in the stomach with one of her gauntlet covered fists. Metal clanged against his face and he hit the forest floor like a sack of potatoes. He shook his head, clearing the pixies dancing, laughing, in his peripheral vision.

Cobra stood, knocking his jaw to click the pain out. He fought the wince when his knuckles made contact with the bruise he could feel forming on his jaw. He touched his thumb to his lip, wiping away blood, licking up the remnants. 

"Finished?" The words rumbled out of his mouth.

Erza stood down, barely winded from the effort of smacking the snot out of Cobra. "Yes."

He sat on a log he'd pulled near his tent. Hung his head, his hands on his knees.

Erza sat the other end, the stoic portrait she always was. No emotion, her posture composed, neutral. If he couldn't hear her intention, her soul, he would have no idea how she felt.  
"It's been six months, Cobra." She sighed.

"No shit." Cobra bit out. He sighed, he wasn't going to ask, he couldn't. He didn't want- "How is she?" The words were out before he could stop himself.

"She's okay." Erza said. She could have lied. Said she was great. Amazing even. Would that have made him feel better or worse? Would it have eased the guilt he felt? She could have told him she was miserable. A wreck, a barely there echo of what she once was. Would he have blamed himself? But she didn't, he would have known if she was lying. "She's back in therapy," Erza shrugged, "but she's okay."

Cobra's eye widened, he turned to face Erza, " _Back_ in therapy?"

Erza's eyes snapped to his. "She never told you about Rhys?" The look on his face told her that, no, Lucy never told him. He couldn't imagine why she'd want to. He'd steal her away, in secret, to make out with her, or eat food or watch films. They never _talked_.

He knew he was selfish. But he never realised just how selfish until this point.

"I thought she was happy." Cobra admitted his short-sightedness. How he thought just being there was enough. It was for him.

"She was getting there." Erza moved a little closer to him. "She was going to stop seeing him. Then the Neverland thing happened." Erza frowned.

Lucy's depression had spiralled. Flashbacks and phantom pains plagued her constantly. Natsu said she'd thrash about in her sleep. Wake up crying, throw herself into him and sob until she was shivering with the effort.

She came back to herself only slightly in the weeks following the take down of Mard's network. Erza and some others in Fairy Tail had assisted. Rounding children up in different worlds. Strongholds and dungeons were found on so many different planes of existence that Lucy had to enlist the help of the Celestial Spirit King. Helping made her feel useful. Like Lucy again.

When it was over, Cobra knew.

Jellal turned a blind eye while Cobra and Midnight destroyed him. By the time they were done, Mard Geer didn't know what was real life and what was hallucination. Demons argued in his head, driving him insane. He begged, pleaded with Cobra to let it end.

_Cobra grabbed Mard's chin. "Beg me." He spat._

_"Please!" Mard sobbed, snot and spit mingling with his tears as he screamed, "Kill me!" His ragged voice reverberated off the dank stone walls. Sconces guttered with the power of the words._

_Cobra almost smiled. It was a twisted, hateful movement of his lips._

_Mard's fear was palpable, it had a flavour to it Cobra would never tire of._

_"No." Cobra turned towards the wrought iron doorway, "I don't think I will."_

_Frustration and terror bled into Cobra's veins and he shuddered. Barely._

Of course, Mard was gone now. Not dead, not the way everyone else knows dying to be. But as gone as someone like him can be. In the only way it mattered. He wasn't coming back. Freed and Levy bound him, cursed to forever roam his precious Labyrinth. Haunted, chased by the ghosts of his past, hungry to make him pay for their injustice. Angry, afraid, _insatiable_.

Erza broke through his thoughts.

"When are you coming back?" She wasn't telling him too, but she wasn't asking _if_ he was coming back, either.

He didn't know if he could. He told her as much.

Erza sighed, standing to leave, heading back to the trees she broke through not fifteen minutes ago.

"She still misses you, you know. You can tell yourself this is for the best. Justify your decisions however you need to, Cobra. But ask yourself," She turned to look at him, "Are _you_ happy?" And she was gone.

-

A week passed. Then two. Erza didn't bother watching the door. If she did, the lie she'd told her guild mates would be blown wide open.

As far as they knew, she had taken out a minor dark guild in northern Fiore, a task she had no problems dealing with because, she was Erza.

Of course, had she stared at the door, they could assumed it was because she was waiting for Jellal. But Erza wouldn't take that chance.

So she didn't notice when Crime Sorciere slid through the door. Not until Lucy's face blanched. The colour drained so quickly from her cheeks it was though someone had turned on a faucet at her chin.

"Luce?" Natsu frowned from the opposite side of the table. 

Lucy swallowed thickly, but didn't respond until Natsu waved his arm in her face.

"Oh shit." She whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think maybe one or two more chapters. It depends on if what I have can be condensed.  
> We shall see.  
> Thanks again for tagging along for this wild ride.  
> Any and all feedback makes me happy <3


	19. Vanitati

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cobra realises he's a fucking idiot.

Lucy's mouth hung open.

"Luce?" Natsu snapped his fingers in front of her. "Earthland to Lucy?"

"Lushy?" Happy sounded worried. Lucy's face was completely devoid of emotion. She was either about to start crying or ripping peoples heads off.

She did neither. She pushed Natsu's hand out of her face, stood silently, and left.

Erza looked to where the other guild were, Cobra's face was set in it's permanent scowl. He slid into a barstool next to Angel with a reptilian grace. Midnight flanked his right, and the three were settling into their usual routine of taking shots and talking shit about anyone they could.

Well, Angel talked shit. Cobra and Midnight rolled their eyes and agreed with incoherent mumbles.

Erza glared, her intention very clear as she made her way over to them.

Cobra tensed, making Erza's lip lift in a smug little smile.

"You should follow her." Erza said, standing directly behind Cobra, arms folded across her armoured chest.

Cobra snorted. "Who?" He laughed derisively.

Erza grabbed his arm, dragging him away from a snoozing Midnight and a snickering Angel.

"What the shit, Red?!" He snarled as he followed her. With very little resistance, Erza noticed.

"Don't play stupid, Cobra." Erza admonished, "You know exactly who. You hung your head the second she walked out of the door. You _heard_ her leave."

"So what if I did?" He shrugged, looking back over to where Angel and Midnight were watching him, their eyes narrowed in suspicious curiosity.

He dragged his gaze back to Erza. Her face was shadowed by her hair, eyes gleaming with a raw anger and ferocity that made him shudder inwardly.

He gritted his teeth.

"I have done enough damage just by being around. Okay? I think it's best I leave her alone." He told Erza. His tone firm and final.

"I know you're half blind, Cobra, but come on." Erza scoffed. "Not even you're that short sighted that you can't see that it's because you _left_ that Lucy suffered more? Could you not hear her?"

Now he was taken aback. It's all well and good being able to hear what someone is planning to do or say next. But the issue with talking with emotion is that most things are said without forethought. Erza was so angry and upset about how Lucy felt, that she felt the need to stick her oar in over this for only the second time.

"I heard her spiralling." Cobra admitted. "I heard the black hole in her heart and the memories. Of what he did. Of everything she went through. And-" Cobra bit his tongue.  
Erza lifted an eyebrow, hands on her hips now. "And?"

Cobra sighed, " _And_ ," he growled through gritted teeth, "I heard her think about me. It didn't occur to me that she was-" He huffed. He wasn't good at this. Talking through shit. Least of all with Erza Fucking Scarlet. "Shit. I thought she blamed-"

He shook his head and scrubbed a hand down his face and then stepped around her, heading for the door. He was stopped when Erza spoke again.

"By the way," She asked, curious, "You must have heard me coming, that day. Why didn't you just stop me?"

Cobra snorted, "You caught me by surprise, Titania." He smirked, but his eye told a different story. Erza read between the lines. He could have stopped her if he wanted to. On some level, she knew that. Cobra felt responsible for everything that had happened to Lucy. Despite the fact that exactly zero of it, was his fault. And on the same level, she knew he felt he deserved what she did to him in the woods that day.

She also thought he deserved some retribution for having abandoned Lucy when she needed him. And she'd be damned if she wasn't the one to dish it out.

-

Lucy's feet hurt from stomping the pavement so hard.

She couldn't figure out if she was angry or relieved. The only thing she did know was that she had to leave the guild or she would have started screaming.

"The nerve!" She seethed, hands fisted at her sides as she sped towards her apartment. "Disappears for _months_! Then waltzes back in like it's nothing?!" She stopped, stomping her foot in frustration. 

Months, she had worked for _months_ to get past everything, at least for the most part. She still had nightmares, but her sessions with Rhys were helping. Training with Capricorn and Leo again. Meditation with Evergreen and reading more with Levy. She was finally at a place where she felt more like herself again. And in strolls Cobra. His cocky smirk and swagger threatening to blow it all up.

She turned towards the canal. "Asshole!" She screamed, startling the guys on the boat who were telling her to be careful. Her face flushed furiously when she noticed them. She mumbled an apology and shuffled off quickly.

She hurried into her apartment building, up the stairs and through the door. Her shoulders sagged when she rested her forehead on the cool wood of her front door. She took a deep breath. Then another. And another. She centred herself. Trying to rationalise her feelings.

Anger. He left. Again.

Relief. At least he wasn't dead? No one had heard from him since he left Crime Sorciere.

Confusion. _Why_ was he back?

Anxiety. Why was he _back_?!

Her eyes snapped open and she pushed off the door, "Ughhhh." She wouldn't deal with it until she had to.

Rubbing the back of her hand across where her head had been against the door, Lucy realised how grimy she felt. Her sprint across town had left her sweaty and hungry.

-

Steam rose in gentle tendrils to soothe the ache blooming behind her eyes, to cleanse the shit show that was her afternoon from her memory. She sank into the water, the towel on her head grazing the surface as she sighed into the bubbles.

 _This is fine._ Lucy comforted herself. It had to be fine. Crime Sorciere weren't going to be leaving any time soon. Jellal would want to see as much of Erza as he could. Angel would probably search Yukino out and spend time with her. _I'll just have to put on my big girl pants, and deal with it._

Putting on her big girl pants consisted of getting out of the bath and straight into some shorts and a vest. She plopped down on her sofa, switching on her lacrima vision and cracking open a pint of cookie dough ice cream. A showing of her favourite horror film was on and she thought it'd be a good distraction.

_Cobra is future Lucy's problem._

The spoon was halfway to her mouth when there was a knock at her door.


	20. Closure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy answers the door.  
> And works towards the closure she so desperately needs.

"Nope." Lucy shook her head, shovelling ice cream into her mouth. "I'm not home!" She shouted at the door, muting the screen infront of her. She was ready to kick the crap out of whoever walked through that door. She assumed it was Natsu, or Erza, coming to check up on her.

"Don't shout with your mouth full." A gravelly voice came from the other side of the door and Lucy froze. Cookie dough dribbled down her chin while fear slid it's icy hand down her spine.

"Shit," She wiped her quivering chin with her hand. "Go away, Cobra!" She yelled at her door, biting her lip to keep it from trembling.

"Not until I talk to you." 

Lucy waited. A heartbeat. Two. Three. Something fell against the door, then slid down, there was a dull thud at the floor.

"I can wait all night." His voice was distinctly lower down that it had been before. He'd sat down.

Lucy walked to the door, her hand hovered over the handle.

Could she do this? Face these feelings? One look at his face in the guild hall nearly shut her down again. She didn't blame him for everything that happened, how could she? He saved her, twice. Waited for her to wake up, held her hand, eased her fears when Porlyusica removed the tube from her throat. He refused to let her remember the awful things that happened. He distracted her, made her feel beautiful despite her scars.

He held her when everything came rushing back to her in Mard's cabin, she knew he didn't let go, not until he had to. He had cradled her, kept her warm and safe. Then he passed her to Natsu, and that was it.

-

Cobra heard everything. Every thought ticking over, every memory. Every feeling. How she had cried for him. How she missed him. Resented him. Was grateful for him. _Hated_ him.

He should leave.

He _should_ just tell her how he felt. How he was sorry. He sighed, resting his head on the door.

"I thought I was doing the right thing." He said, loud enough to be heard through the wood. He looked up, counting the dark beams above him.

He got to twelve when the latch clicked above his head. He stood, brushing down his coat before Lucy stepped out.

She stood in front of him, hugging her arms around her bare stomach.

"How?" Lucy said, caution masking every other feeling on her porcelain face. The light in the hallway was dim. He hadn't seen her in months but he still knew how she looked even in the dark. Even blind he could point to her scars, her freckles. He could tell you how she scowled when she was pissed, how her ears blushed when she was embarrassed. How she frowned when she closed herself off, guarded herself against the world, against him. "How the hell could you think you were doing the right thing?"

Cobra couldn't answer her. When he thought about it, how could he justify his actions? What could he say that didn't make him look like a coward? Or massively heartless? It was hard enough to admit he was both of those things to himself, but saying them out loud was too much. What if she agreed with him?

Lucy sighed, turning back into her apartment. "Go away, Cobra." She shut the door.

-

Lucy woke up the next morning feeling awful. She hadn't slept and her neck was stiff. When she looked in the mirror, she hated what she saw. Sleep deprivation highlighted her scars. She'd lost weight, so her ribs stuck out a bit. Lifting her top, she saw what remained of her broken ribs, where the skin had ripped. Poking her tongue out, she inspected Porlyusica's handiwork. The stitches she'd had in her tongue dissolved and healed while she was still comatose, but what was left was a line three quarters of the way across. The jagged line above her nose was faint but still there. Her jaw had never been the same after setting funny from the fracture. She had grown to love her face again, she was still Lucy. Just with more experience.

"I could give Deadpool a run for his money." She groaned, rubbing her hands down her still sleep-puffy cheeks.

"You look nothing like that assclown." A voice shouted from outside her front door. Lucy's face went from bitter resentment to anger in less time than in took for her to look back at her own reflection.

She stomped through her apartment, throwing the front door open. Glaring at Cobra, who was sat outside her door, legs across the doorway, back against the wall.

"I told you to go away." She kept her voice calm, knowing yelling would accomplish exactly nothing.

"And when have you ever known me to follow orders, baby spice?" He looked up from where he was flipping a coin between his fingers.

"How about when your orders were to hurt me or my guild?" Lucy knew it was a low blow, but she was seething. Her fists trembled at her sides with the effort not to put one through the wall.

Cobra stood, facing her, so close they were nearly nose to nose had it not been for the height difference.

Lucy glared at him, fighting to keep her breathing steady. He had the audacity to look hurt and this further angered her. How dare he? After everything. Regret flashed behind the indigo of his eye and he turned to leave.

Lucy slammed her door, shaking as she slid down against it.

A knock pulled her from her sobs, shoving her straight back into anger. She nearly ripped the door off it's hinges, but was surprised to see Natsu on the other side.

"Luce?" Confusion and second hand hurt painted his features in a way that was physically painful to Lucy.

_I am ruining my friends lives._

Natsu wrapped his arms around her, and held her while she cried.

-

Lucy didn't stop by the guild again until a few days later. She had calmed down, spoken to Rhys and he convinced her that hearing Cobra out may not be the worst idea. If nothing else, she'd at least get closure.

She had psyched herself up. From the moment she left her apartment, she told herself over and over that it was a good idea. She had turned to go back more than once, scolding herself and turning back towards the guild. Anyone watching her must have thought she was mad. Honestly, Lucy wasn't convinced otherwise.

Walking up the street to the guild, she shook out her tension. Forcing herself to relax her shoulders, to hold her head up. She couldn't be afraid of this anymore.

Cobra was stood outside the hall. Waiting. Lucy knew he heard her.

Lucy stopped in front of him as he pushed himself away from the wall and flicked his cigarette on the ground.

"We need to talk."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished it!  
> Wild right?  
> Sorry about that ending.  
> No, I'm not.  
> Stay tuned for the epilogue.  
> Thank you all so much for still reading my drivel. <3


End file.
